Rodeo Girl
by Lizziekat15
Summary: I own nothing of The Walking Dead or it's characters. My story is going to feature all the characters younger than they presently are, and I'm wanting the zombie apocalypse to take place in the 1970's instead of now. Less technology. Still figuring out the story, but here's the first chapter for now.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Rick Grimes woke up and looked around. He was in the hospital, but had no memory of how he'd gotten here or how long he'd been here. He sat up slowly, noting how unnaturally quiet the hospital was-no overhead announcements, no conversation in the halls, no beeping monitors. He looked around for the call button and grasped it, squeezing it in the hopes that someone would appear and give him some information. He listened carefully for the sound of footsteps headed to his room, and heard none. Frowning, he squeezed the call button yet again, and kept his finger on it. There was no more sure way to piss off a nurse than to clamp down on a call button without giving them time to respond.

The fact that no one was responding and he could hear nothing in the hall outside his door made him determined to get up and go out into the hall to see what was going on. He grimaced in pain as his movement made his head throb. He reached up and tentatively felt around the back of his head to find a large lump and what felt like stitches near the base of his skull. As he shifted position, he winced as a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder. He sighed and tried to remember what the hell had happened to him.

Closing his eyes briefly, he vaguely remembered Shane calling him for backup for a drunk driver. He frowned. That couldn't be right. Shane never called for backup. He rubbed his right hand over his face and sighed again. That could wait, what he needed to do now was get out of the bed, get dressed and go out into the hall to find someone who could give him some information.

He slowly and painfully made his way to a chair that had what looked like his uniform folded on it. Stopping often to collect himself, he shakily pulled his clothes on and at last managed to pull his boots on before he sat down to collect himself again. He was shaking from the effort of dressing, and sweat dripped from his brow. He realized that the room was hot and stuffy and frowning finally noticed that no air was blowing from the vents. What the hell was going on?

Taking a deep breath, Rick headed to the door and cautiously opened it, peering out into the hall. He frowned again, puzzled at the lack of activity or staff in the hall. He instinctively reached for his gun, and keeping his hand on it he slowly stepped out into the hall.

There was no one at the nurse's desk, and he could see by the mess of papers flung about that whoever had been there had left in a hurry. He stepped along as quietly as he could, looking into rooms and down other corridors confounded by the continued silence and the lack of anyone at all anywhere.

He came to the door to the stairwell and stepped through and began to slowly make his way down to the first floor. Maybe there would be somebody there who could tell him what the hell was going on.

He cracked the door open slightly, peering out into the hallway of the first floor nearest the ER. Listening carefully, he realized the first floor was just as silent as the second had been. Stepping cautiously out into the hallway, he saw the remnants of chaos surrounding him. Papers lay everywhere, overturned gurneys and stretchers, doors ajar and supplies lying everywhere. His eyes widened at the sight of bullet holes all over the walls along with blood splatters everywhere as well as pooled on the floor in different areas. He inched his way toward the ER exit by the ambulance bay and peeked into the offices on the way, again seeing no one.

Outside in the ambulance bay, he encountered more havoc. Vehicles were stopped in the middle of the road, up on curbs, doors opened and abandoned. And again that eerie silence. No birds chirping, dogs barking, none of the usual noise of traffic or kids or anything. Rick sighed again and rubbed his right hand over his face in confusion and frustration. He knew his station was just two blocks east of the hospital but he didn't feel confidant walking even that short distance as weak and shaky as he felt. He looked about and saw an abandoned truck that had run up on the curb nearest him. He looked about and seeing no one to object, he got in and fumbled for the keys that were thankfully still in the ignition.

Rick drove slowly toward the station, going wide around some of the vehicles that were just stopped everywhere along the road. As he drove, he observed the military vehicles abandoned around the hospital and lines of sheet covered bodies in the parking lots. Whatever had happened, he was relieved he had missed it. He just hoped Lori and Carl were safe somewhere and that he could find them.

He pulled into the parking lot of the police department and noticed Shane's cruiser parked haphazardly near the entrance. He pulled his gun as he exited the truck and strode slowly toward the entrance, noting again the absence of any personnel around. The sheriff's department and jail were all together in a small building near the city hall and a small park. The jail had just four cells, it was a small rural jail used mainly for holding drunk drivers until court day. As Rick entered the office area, he again noted the evidence of hasty departure by whoever had last been in here. Papers strewn everywhere, ammo and guns unattended and strewn about on the floor. He advanced cautiously toward the jail cells and peered into the first two, seeing nothing. Peering into the last one in back he was surprised to see a figure lying on the cot. He stopped and stared in confusion. He didn't remember placing anyone in the cell, and where was Shane or anyone else if there was a prisoner to be taken care of?

"Hello?" he whispered quietly. At the sound of his voice, the figure stirred and sat up. Rick could just make out that the person seemed to be a female, before the person turned fully toward him. He heard a gasp and the figure jumped up and ran toward the cell door. It was a girl, maybe still in her teens and she looked like she'd been brutally beaten. Her face was swollen and discolored from bruising, her lips split and swollen. Her shirt was nearly torn off her exposing pale skin that was mottled with bruises on her chest, arms and stomach. Her hair was a tangled mass of chestnut curls. She wore ripped and filthy jeans and her feet were bare.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed in a husky voice. "Can you let me out of here please?" Rick frowned at her, trying to imagine why a young girl would have been left locked up in the jail and everyone else had fled.

"Who are you and why have you been left in here alone?" Rick asked softly. His head was aching as was his shoulder and he had a bad feeling his day was about to get even worse than it had started off.

"I'm Lily Harlan. Your asshole deputy, Shane, arrested me and brought me here after he killed my boyfriend Jack and tried to kill you," she spat out angrily. She winced as she took a deep breath and clutched a hand to her right ribs.

"What are you talking about?" Rick demanded.

"Your deputy, that sorry bastard, pulled me and Jack over for some bullshit reason two weeks ago. He shot Jack point blank and then called you for back up. When you got there he waited til you went to look at Jack and shot you in the back, then hit you in the head and then he called for an ambulance claiming that you two had been ambushed by Jack and me." She winced as she took another deep breath.

Rick let his gaze take her in slowly and carefully-he could see she was in just as bad a shape if not worse as he was. She was visibly shaking, both wrists were red and raw from having been handcuffed rather tightly at some recent point.

"Those are some very serious charges you're talking about," Rick murmured, his mind trying to assimilate the information she'd given him.

Lily snorted in disgust. "Yes, very serious charges indeed," she snapped back

"Well, where were you when all this happened? How do I know you aren't lying about all this?" Rick countered.

"You don't remember, do you?" Lily demanded, staring hard at Rick. Rick shook his head helplessly.

"No, I don't. All I know is I woke up in the hospital just a while ago and there wasn't a soul there to tell me what the hell is going on." He sighed again in frustration.

"All I know is that fucker Shane beat the shit out of me, dragged me back here and continued to beat me and….." she stopped abruptly and Rick looked at her. Tears had welled up in her eyes and she had crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"What did Shane do?" he asked quietly.

Lily refused to meet his gaze and shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly.

Rick crossed to the jail door and gripped the bars, willing her to look at him. "Lily, I need you to tell me what happened. Do you know where Shane is now? Do you know anything about what's been going on outside here?"

Lily continued to avoid looking at him, her eyes glued on the floor. "I know Shane left me here about four days ago. Said something about the shit hitting the fan in the world, the end of days or some crap. That you were dead and he was going to get Lori and Carl and get the hell outta here and get somewhere safe. When I told him to let me the hell out he just laughed and said he wasn't taking any chances of my fucking his new life up. Then he threw the keys over there," she pointed to the floor behind Rick and he turned and saw the jail door key lying on the floor, "said maybe I could talk somebody into letting me out before I starved to death." She gasped again and winced in pain.

Rick shook his head in bemusement. This didn't sound like Shane at all. Sure Shane had a bad temper, but he'd never beaten a prisoner, much less killed one in cold blood. And this girl was saying Shane had shot him and knocked him out?

"Did Shane say anything else? Where was he taking Lori and Carl?" Rick rasped. He was having a hard time taking this all in.

"He said something about a safe zone. Atlanta I think. But he wouldn't tell me what was going on. Said it didn't matter, I'd be dead one way or the other soon enough." Lily gazed speculatively at Rick a moment. "Who's Lori anyway?" she asked quietly, biting her lip.

Rick looked at her, frowning. "Why?"

"Well, whoever she is she must be something special to him. He kept telling me I looked close enough to her to substitute until he had the real thing." She put her hand over her mouth to stifle a sob and tears spilled down her cheeks.

Rick suddenly felt more anxious than ever to find Lori. Rick fumbled for the keys on the floor and unlocked the door to the cell. Lily stumbled into his arms and he held her upright tightly, his heart pounding with anger and worry. He led her out into the office area and began to inventory her various bruises and injuries. She was a slight girl, slender bordering on skinny and would have been unable to defend herself against Shane physically. He lifted her face to him and his eyes wandered over the bruises and black eye, split lip, choke marks on her throat, bruising on her arms and chest and ribs, welts on her back. What in the hell had Shane been thinking? And if he did this to Lily, what would he do to Lori? Or Carl?

Rick murmured soothingly to Lily as he assessed the damage Shane had wrought. He crossed to the locker room and rummaged around until he found a spare tshirt of his he'd kept in the locker and handed it to Lily. He turned his back so she could change shirts. Now he needed to find her some shoes or boots. He turned back around to see Lily staring at him blankly.

"I don't know what's happened any more than you do, but I'm not leaving you here alone. I need to find my wife and son and I need to find Shane and find out what in the hell he's been up to. The man I know, the man I've known all my life, wouldn't have done anything like this. So I need to find him and find out what is going on. If he's capable of treating you this way, much less killing your boyfriend and trying to kill me I don't want him anywhere near my family."

Lily nodded. "First though we're going to fill a duffle bag full of weapons and ammo so we can defend ourselves from whatever the hell is going on out there." He motioned for Lily to follow him and they busied themselves filling a large duffel bag full of various guns and ammo.

"Do you know how to shoot a gun? Are you comfortable handling a gun?" Rick at last asked her as he handed her a handgun.

"I grew up on a ranch out in Wyoming. So yeah, I can shoot," Lily mumbled as she checked the gun for ammo and tucked it into her waistband.

Rick gazed at her quizzically. "If you don't mind my asking, what were you and your boyfriend doing here in Georgia?"

"We're on the rodeo circuit. Jack rides and ropes and I barrel race and trick ride. We decided to stay an extra weekend after the rodeo ended. Last time I let a man make travel plans," she snapped. Rick smirked slightly. He pointed her toward the door and they went out to get into the truck he'd taken from the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Rick and Lily headed toward Rick's house just to be sure Lori and Carl weren't there. Rick noted as he pulled into his driveway that his new truck was missing from the driveway. He could bet that Shane had used it to take Lori and Carl to wherever he had taken them. Shane had been openly envious of the truck ever since Rick had bought it. It was the first new truck Rick had ever owned, he'd only had it a few months and he'd had to listen to Shane bitch and moan every damn day since he'd brought it home.

"Come on in the house with me Lily, we'll see about finding you something to wear. You and Lori are about the same size," Rick mumbled as he got out of the truck he'd commandeered. Lily followed him up to the front door and Rick bit back a laugh when he realized Lori had locked the front door. Trust Lori to lock the house up in an apocalypse, as if it mattered whether or not anyone trespassed or not at this point. He bent and retrieved the spare key out of the flowerpot by the front door and quickly unlocked the door. Stepping in he noted how stale and stuffy the house was, as well as how quiet. He motioned Lily in and shut and locked the door behind her. "Go on upstairs, our room was the first on the left. Should be something in the drawers or closet that'll fit you," he mumbled as he began to slowly examine each room downstairs to assess what Lori and Carl might have taken with them.

Lily nodded and headed cautiously up the stairs. She entered the bedroom Rick had told her was his and glanced over the clothes strewn all over the bed and floor. Apparently Lori had packed in a rush. She rummaged in the closet for some type of suitcase or duffel bag and quickly stuffed some clothes she assumed were Rick's into the bag –jeans, shirts, socks, underwear as she riffled through dresser drawers and rummaged through the clothes on the floor and bed. She also grabbed some items of Lori's and stuffed them into the bag as well-jeans, shirts, underwear, socks. She looked at Lori's bras and smirked to see that as small as her own breasts were, she was still bustier than Lori.

She wandered into the adjoining bathroom and grabbed toothbrushes and toothpaste from the cabinet. She gazed longingly at the shower and turned the sink faucet on. Running water. She gazed hesitantly back toward the bedroom doorway and shrugged. She hadn't had a shower in over a week and she desperately wanted to wash any trace of that bastard Shane off of her. She could take a quick shower while Rick explored downstairs, who knew when she'd get a chance to shower again.

Lily quickly stripped off her filthy jeans and Rick's tshirt and turning the water on as hot as she could stand it she hopped into the shower and immediately started lathering up her hair. The water felt heavenly, although she winced as the spray hit her various cuts and bruises. Humming softly, she rinsed her hair and quickly lathered up and vigorously scrubbed all over her body, not caring if it hurt or not. She wanted every trace of Shane gone from her.

At last she stepped out of the shower and hurriedly dried off before slipping into some underwear and jeans she'd carried in from the bedroom. She debated putting her filthy bra back on, and opted instead to go without for the time being. She slipped a tank top on and sighed, relieved to feel clean again. Stepping to the sink she scrubbed her teeth clean and spat out blood with the toothpaste. No doubt from the cuts all over the inside of her mouth.

Sighing again, she stepped into the bedroom and nearly screamed. There Rick sat on the bed, waiting patiently for her. He smiled slightly as he noted her damp hair and clean clothes. He nodded slightly and motioned for her to follow him back downstairs as he carried the duffel bag she'd filled.

Wordlessly they went back outside, Rick locking the door once more and replacing the spare key under the flowerpot. He laughed softly at himself and shrugged.

"Well, looks like we're going to Atlanta," Rick said quietly as he placed the duffel in the back seat of the truck. Lily climbed in again beside him and nodded silently. For now, her plan was to tag along after Rick until they got to someplace safe. Maybe there would be a way she could contact her family once they got to the safe zone and she could find a way to get home. Her stomach rumbled and she grit her teeth. She hadn't had much to eat since Shane had left her alone at the jail, and he sure hadn't been generous about feeding her before that. From the looks of things though, she didn't envision that they would be able to find an open restaurant anytime in the near future.

Rick looked over at her and smiled again. "Guess we better find something to eat before we get on the road. Don't know 'bout you, but I'm starving," he said softly, the hint of a laugh in his voice. Lily marveled at his attitude. Here his asshole friend had tried to kill him, had for all intents and purposes run off with his family and the world had gone to hell.

Lily turned to look at him more fully. "Did you smoke something while I was showering?" she asked incredulously.

Rick laughed out loud in surprise. "No, why?"

Lily shook her head in bemusement. "Well, you're having a particularly shitty day and you're acting like there's nothing in the world wrong. I figured maybe you'd taken something or smoked something to take the edge off," and she shrugged.

"No, nothing like that. I just figure that at this point I'm incredibly lucky to still be alive and I'm hoping my luck continues with me finding my wife and son and figuring out what the hell is going on." He nodded slightly and began driving toward the supermarket. Lily smiled slightly at him and turned to look out the window as they passed houses seemingly abandoned in a hurry and piles of corpses scattered randomly in yards and streets. "You sure you didn't hear anything about what caused all this?" Rick asked again as they pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket.

Lily shook her head slowly, taking in the catastrophe that was the parking lot. "No, couldn't get anything out of Shane-he just kept babbling bout the end of the world." She snorted softly in disgust at that. After what Shane had done to her, he needed to worry about the end of the world. If it was the last thing she did she was going to make sure she helped his sorry ass along into whatever passed for torture at the end of the world these bible thumpers in the South always prattled on about.

Rick motioned for Lily to follow closely behind him as he walked warily toward the store entrance. The doors stood ajar and as Rick and Lily made their way down the various aisles they heard no one but saw plenty of corpses in various states of decay. The shelves looked like they'd been ransacked but Rick and Lily found canned items they could eat and peanut butter and jelly and bread, some cereal and so on. They didn't bother with the ruined vegetables or fruits except for a few apples that didn't look too bad. They loaded up a cart and pushed it out to the truck and filled part of the back seat with the items they'd scavenged.

Hopping back into the truck, Rick and Lily each grabbed a can of beefaroni and after Rick opened each can with a can opener he'd grabbed from the store they dug in using plastic silverware they'd remembered to toss into the cart. They'd grabbed soda from the store as well and both guzzled most of their cans before they felt like they could now travel. Lily let out a rather large burp and giggled and turned pink as Rick turned to look at her in surprise. She shrugged. "Well, at least now I don't have to worry about manners I guess," she laughed softly. Rick snorted and turned the car toward the highway.

"It'll be about two hours before we hit Atlanta, if you want to sleep go ahead and lean back," he advised Lily.

She shook her head. "No thanks, I think I'll help ya keep an eye on things. No telling what we'll see next," and she shivered a bit at the thought of anything worse than what they'd already encountered.

"Okay, then," Rick answered and he settled in for the drive.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rick drove the truck slowly along the streets of downtown Atlanta, both he and Lily's mouths hanging open at the scene before them. Corpses in piles all over the place, abandoned vehicles everywhere. Litter all along the streets the result of buildings rapidly emptied and deserted. Rick sighed as he carefully maneuvered the truck around various obstacles and as he and Lily came to the realization that there didn't seem to be anyone alive in the town.

As they slowly rolled past building after building finding no sign of life Rick sighed in exasperation. Lily looked over at him sadly. "I don't think we're going to find any safe place here, Rick" she whispered. Rick just nodded and continued to slowly inch along the street, keeping his eyes open for any type of movement anywhere. Braking suddenly, he rolled his window down a bit more and listened closely.

"Do you hear that?" he asked Lily softly. Lily tilted her head slightly and strained to hear anything other than themselves breathing and the truck running. At first she heard nothing, but then as she willed herself to hold still and really listen she heard something. She didn't know what it was, but there was some kind of noise out there. Looking up, she saw what seemed to be somebody waving from a rooftop about a half a block down from where they'd stopped.

Lily grabbed Rick's arm and pointed to the rooftop. Rick nodded and shifted the truck into gear again and proceeded along the street until they were directly in front of the building they'd seen someone waving from. He put the truck into park and stepped out of the vehicle cautiously, glancing all about him warily. The door to the building opened and out trotted a young Asian man. He smiled at Rick and ran toward him.

"Hey," the young man excitedly exclaimed, "you're the first people we've seen in a week!" Rick nodded silently. "My names Glen and I'm here with a few other folks. We came into town to look for survivors, but you're the only ones we've seen in a while," Glen rattled on. Lily decided to keep her mouth shut and let Rick handle this since he had his uniform on and people always listened to someone in a uniform.

"Um, hi," Rick began, "I'm Rick Grimes and this is Lily Harlan. We just drove two hours here hoping to find a safe zone or some explanation of what the hell is going on," he continued. Lily noted he had kept his hand on his gun the entire time and that he was blocking the door to protect her. She herself had made sure her door was locked and she had pulled her gun from her waistband and had the safety off. There was no telling what kind of people they would meet and she didn't intend on going through any more of the type of shit Shane had put her through.

"Yeah, well about the safe zone-that was napalmed a few days ago. The military pretty much bombed most of the city a few days ago. Place was overrun by walkers," and Glen paused for the two to absorb this information.

Lily leaned forward, curiosity getting the better of her. "Walkers? What are you talking about?" she blurted out.

Glen looked over at Rick's shoulder at her. "Walkers. The corpses that are walking around everywhere." Rick looked at Glen in confusion and Lily shook her head, not understanding.

"You guys don't know what's going on at all, do you?" Glen asked incredulously. Rick and Lily shook their heads, dumbfounded. "Well, apparently there was some kind of virus that infected everyone, all over the world. And no one was told anything about it until it was too late really. There's no power, no communication with anyone-phones are out, tv is out. The military came in and there was marshal law here for a few weeks, then all hell broke loose and they bombed the place."

Rick frowned. He had only gotten shot about two weeks ago and he didn't remember anything on the news about any of this. "I don't understand. I didn't hear about anything like this back home a couple of weeks ago," he said tiredly. His mind was reeling at the thought that Lori and Carl might have been here and gotten bombed.

Glen nodded. "No one did. Until about two weeks ago. Then they announced a state of emergency on the news and told everyone to head toward certain areas where there would be quarantine areas and safe zones. The last two weeks have been hell-cities have been bombed, looting, cities burning. Broadcasts stopped five days ago and that's the last news anyone's gotten. We're pretty much on our own now," and he shrugged helplessly.

Rick nodded, trying to absorb all this. He could see Lily staring openmouthed behind him, as stupefied as he was. "You say you're with a group?" Rick managed at last to ask.

Glen nodded again. "Yeah, we're about to head back to camp. We're staying at a quarry a few miles out of town. You're welcome to join us. We've been staying there until we were sure there wasn't anyone left here in town before we decided where to head to." Glen turned toward the building and looking up waved at the figures watching from the roof. They disappeared from view and Rick leaned against the truck while he waited to see what type of people Glen was traveling with.

As Glen's group spilled out the doorway of the building, Rick saw there were two women and three men with Glen. He waited quietly as they approached the truck and stopped just behind Rick. Looking at them over Rick's shoulder, Lily gasped in surprise. She slid over to the driver's side of the truck and peered over Rick's shoulder at Glen's group. She tapped Rick on the shoulder and whispered in his ear. He nodded and turned to look at a man of about thirty, a man who looked rough around the edges. The man stared coldly back at Rick, but then as his gaze flicked to Lily he broke into a surprised smile.

"Why Annie Oakley! What are you doing here? Thought you'd done gone back to the wild West with your old man Jack!" the man yelled. Immediately the others in his group shushed him nervously. He waved them off and picked his way toward the truck. Lily leaned eagerly out the truck window –finally a person she recognized! Rick stepped aside so that the man could stand closer to the door and thus Lily.

"Oh Merle," she breathed happily, smiling in wonder that here was someone she did in fact know. Rick lifted his brow and stared at Lily, waiting for an introduction. She blushed and waving a hand at Merle she introduced them. "This is Merle Dixon, this is Rick Grimes. Jack and I met Merle and his brother…..Daryl right?" Merle smirked at her pretense of not remembering Daryl's name. "We met them the weekend before the rodeo started and hung out with them that week," she finished, shooting Merle a sharp look that he was smart enough to interpret as a sign he should keep his mouth shut about what all went on that week they had all "hung out". He winked at Lily and chucked her under the chin.

"Tha's right! Annie Oakley here and her old man hung out with us and then …hey, what happened to y'all? Y'all were supposed to meet up with us back at the house that night." Merle frowned at the sudden look of sadness and anger on Lily's face.

Rick shook his head. "Lily can explain it to you later. Right now I'd like to follow your group back to the quarry," he said firmly as he motioned Merle out of his way. Merle nodded and walked around to the passenger side to whisper with Lily while Rick and Glen worked out the plan for traveling back to the quarry.

"What happened girl?" Merle whispered to Lily as she leant out the window. He watched in consternation as Lily's eyes filled with tears of anger and hurt and spilled down her cheeks.

"Rick's sorry bastard of a deputy pulled Jack and me over after we left you guys at the bar that night," she whispered hurriedly, "and he…..he killed Jack and tried to kill Rick," she blurted out, clapping her hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing out loud. Merle frowned and stared angrily at Rick's back. "No Merle, Rick had nothing to do with any of it. That fucker Shane shot Jack in cold blood, and then ambushed Rick. Guess he told Rick's wife that he was dead too, cuz Rick's wife and son weren't home when he went to look for them."

Merle's eyes had widened when Lily had said Shane's name and now his eyes had narrowed as he thought quietly. "What's Rick's old lady's and kid's names?" he asked quietly.

Lily looked at him in confusion. "Um, Lori and …um Carl I think. Why?" Merle nodded thoughtfully.

"How did you come to be with Rick?" Merle continued to glare into space as he thought.

"Shane cuffed me and …he took me to jail. Left Jack dead on the road. Called for an ambulance for Rick and then once the ambulance left he took me to the jail. Rick found me in the cell when he came to the station looking for anyone." Merle looked at Lily closely, seeing how she was avoiding his gaze and her face was flushed.

"You're not telling me everything Annie. That's okay, I think I can guess what ol' Shane got up to while he had ya locked up. I'm a redneck asshole, but there's some shit even I won't stoop to. I gotta feeling ol' Shane doesn't have the limits I have." Seeing that Lily hadn't corrected him, Merle growled slightly. He had noticed Shane's overprotective attitude toward Lori and her son Carl and he'd also noted that he had never actually answered any questions about who Lori and Carl were, instead silently passing them off as his family.

He already had a grudge against Shane for the way he'd treated both himself and his baby brother, now he had one more reason to find a way to get rid of Shane. And if what he thought had happened to Lily compliments of Shane, he doubted anyone else would be sorry to see Shane go either. Merle squeezed Lily's hand and winked at her. "Don't worry bout a thing, ol' Merle and Daryl will keep ya safe from now on." He squeezed her hand again and headed back over to the rest of his group, his mind considering all the possible ways he could get rid of Shane permanently.

Glen and his group headed toward the vehicles they had arrived in and Rick followed them as they then headed out to the quarry where the camp was.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Rick and Lily pulled into the camp at the quarry behind Glen and his group in their vehicles, they each held their breath wondering what type of people they'd encounter. Lily looked up in surprise and Merle rapidly opened her door and pulled her out of the truck. "Stay behind me and don't say a word," he hissed quietly. He watched carefully as Rick got out of his side of the truck and started walking toward Glen's group and the camp at large. Lily started as she heard a woman's voice call Rick's name.

"That's right Annie, that fucker Shane is here with Rick's family, passin' them off as his own," Merle mumbled so low she had to strain to hear him. He reached out a hand and pressed Lily close to his side as they carefully walked away from the group that had now gathered around Rick and Lori and a boy Lily assumed was Carl. "Keep your eyes on the ground, don't look up and don't let him see ya," Merle whispered to her as he continued to half drag her further away from the camp. Merle kept his eyes on Shane, smirking as he observed Shane staring angrily toward Rick with his family. Yeah, he had big plans for ol' Shane, but for now he wanted to stay out of Shane's sight until he could let Daryl in on his plans.

He paused in front of the tent Daryl had set up for himself and peered inside. "Slip inside there Annie, and don't make a peep. I'm gonna find baby brother and fill him in on some stuff. You keep your gun handy in case anybody comes snoopin' around. Don't think they will, but best to be on the safe side," he whispered as he pushed her inside and shut the tent flap behind her. Lily sat down in the middle of the tent, listening quietly to the noise the group was making. She trembled continuously at the thought of being anywhere near that bastard Shane again.

Merle made his way closer to the group surrounding Rick and gave Rick a nod indicating he'd like to have a word with him. Rick nodded back and excused himself from Lori and Carl for a moment, then followed Merle to stand a bit to the side. "Do us all a favor, Officer Friendly, and don't mention Annie Oakley to anyone. I can see Shane don't look too happy to see you alive and well and here in camp-if you know anything about what he done to Annie I'm sure you can understand why I don't want him to know she's here. My brother and I will keep an eye on her and you and I will have to figure out what to do about your deputy." Rick nodded, thinking rapidly. If what Lily had told him was true and Shane had tried to kill him he definitely didn't want Shane to know the only witness to what he'd done was in camp as well.

"Agreed," he murmured to Merle.

"Best watch yer back there, Sheriff," Merle muttered before he headed over to Glen and informed Glen and the others not to mention Lily to anyone else in the camp. He knew Glen and the others in camp were more than a little frightened of both he and his brother so he didn't think he'd have to worry about Shane finding out about Lily from anyone he'd traveled with. Now to find a way to keep her safe until he and Daryl could get rid of Shane.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Merle stalked back to Daryl's tent just in time to see Daryl exit the woods with some rabbits he'd caught. "Um, hold up there baby brother, gotta talk to ya a second," Merle hissed at Daryl. Daryl frowned at Merle, aggravated. He was hot and sweaty and grimy and wanted to hurry up and clean the rabbits for dinner so he could clean up a bit down at the water.

"What?" Daryl snapped, shifting restlessly on his feet. Merle smirked. He knew Daryl would be livid to find a female in his tent, and even more so once Merle informed him that she was staying there until they took care of Shane. While most men would've jumped for joy at the thought of sharing a tent with a female, his brother was not most men. He knew Daryl hated anyone touching his belongings or even being near them. And he was especially uncomfortable around women of any age, much less pretty women. Merle had to bite down to keep from laughing out loud at the image of Daryl stomping around angrily when Merle told him about Lily.

Merle cleared his throat and smirked at Daryl. Daryl gazed at him warily. "Remember that little gal and her old man we met coupla weeks ago? They was in town for the rodeo," Merle began. As Merle had expected, Daryl flushed red at the mention of Lily. Merle had noted at the time that both Daryl and Lily had been looking rather sweetly at each other that night at the bar and when Jack and Lily had followed he and Daryl back to their place he had thought Daryl was a fool not to take Lily up on all those longing looks she'd cast his way.

Jack and Lily had ended up staying with he and Daryl most of that week, since Merle had pain pills and Jack needed them. Jack was pretty banged up from a rodeo he'd been in a week or so earlier and gladly paid Merle extra for the pills he'd gotten. Most nights, Jack had lain on Merle's couch zoned out while Daryl gave Lily a ride to the rodeo and waited for her to finish her acts before bringing her back to the house. Merle could tell Daryl was as they say smitten by Lily, but for the life of him he couldn't understand why Daryl hadn't made a single move on her. Well, that was his baby brother-backwards as all hell around women despite all Merle's coaching and encouragement. Now that Jack was out of the way, maybe Daryl would seize the opportunity he'd been lucky enough to stumble into.

"Yeah, kinda," Daryl mumbled in answer and Merle nearly choked from stifling his laughter. Oh this was going to be rich, when Daryl opened that tent.

"Well, lil' Annie Oakley's in yer tent," Merle blurted out. He snickered in glee as Daryl turned bright red and commenced sputtering. Merle waved his hand at Daryl to hush. "Seems that asshole Shane has been lying about a few things," he watched as Daryl shifted restlessly while he listened to Merle. "I went into Atlanta with the Asian kid and some others and we found Shane's sheriff. Seems Shane's family is actually the sheriff's family." Daryl jerked his head up and stared intently at Merle. "Yep, Shane told folks that Rick, that's the sheriff's name, Rick was dead. Now he's got a lotta explainin' ta do ta Lori and Rick." Merle chuckled to himself.

"What's that got ta do with whatshername?" Daryl snapped. Merle snorted in derision. He knew Daryl had that girl's name burned into his brain.

"Well, seems that night they never showed up ta our house ol' Shane stopped them for some bullshit reason. Killed Jack, tried to kill Rick and cuffed Annie and took her off to the jail. Where he then left her to starve ta death about a week ago." Merle paused for all this to sink into Daryl's brain. He watched carefully as the realization of what Merle just said caused Daryl's eyes to narrow in anger and his face flushed and he began to stomp furiously about their little area. Merle nodded. "Yep, Shane left lil' Annie alone to starve ta death in a cell. Lucky for her Rick stumbled on her when he went to the police department to check for anyone still around." Merle crossed his arms and watched as Daryl worked himself up into a frenzy.

Daryl stopped suddenly and looked sharply at Merle. "She's in the tent now?" Merle nodded. "Shane know she's here?" Merle shook his head.

"Nope, told Rick not to mention anything about her. Told Glen the same thing. I don't want Shane to know anything until we can surprise him in front of everyone about what he done. Then we won't have no arguments bout getting rid of him," Merle muttered.

Daryl quieted down some and stood thinking. Merle watched as Daryl processed what he'd just been told. Finally Daryl nodded and handed the rabbits to Merle. "I'm gonna clean up some and then I'll check on her," he muttered quietly. Merle smirked and although he hated cleaning up any of their kills, he gladly took the task over so his brother could reacquaint himself with young Lily. And if Daryl didn't get the lead out of his ass and make his interest known to Lily, he was going to thrash him like he'd never been thrashed before.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Daryl hurriedly rinsed the blood and sweat and grime off his face and arms and neck as best he could before he turned back toward the hill leading up to the campsite. He couldn't believe that Lily was in his tent. He'd thought of her every day the last two weeks or so since he'd first laid eyes on her. When he'd taken her to the rodeo that week he'd watched in amazement at her skill in riding and doing tricks on the horses. The girl was agile, and for all that she was damn near skinny she was surprisingly strong.

Some nights after he'd taken her back to the house she'd show him roping tricks she knew or do backflips and cartwheels and other stuff to unwind while telling him how she'd learned to do these while riding for her act. Later she would tell him stories about summer nights under the stars back home in Wyoming on her family's ranch. He had been enthralled with her stories-hers was such a different life than his had been. Her family had owned their ranch for generations and she'd grown up around all kinds of animals. She was certainly the most fearless girl he'd ever met-she'd had numerous broken bones from the falls and spills she'd taken learning and performing her tricks as well as from helping out with herding the cattle and sheep her family raised. He'd been impressed with how tough she was despite her fragile appearance.

The last two nights Jack had gone off somewhere with Merle and Daryl and Lily had been alone at the house after the rodeo. Lily and he had drank and she'd tried to get him to slow dance with her. She'd tried to get him to kiss her as well, but he had refused worried Jack and Merle would show up unexpectedly and there'd be a fight or some shit. He'd known Merle had been disgusted with him for not making a move on her, but he hadn't felt right about doing such a thing with her boyfriend right there. Although truthfully Lily had made it somewhat clear that she didn't care what Jack thought.

And now here she was in his tent. How this had occurred was unfathomable to him. He had lived his twenty-five years believing that he and his family were cursed and that nothing good would ever happen to him. He was distrustful of most people, had no real friends to speak of and never had had. He was alone in this world save for his brother Merle, and he often thought that if Merle had the chance to run off somewhere without him that Merle would indeed leave him in the dust without a second thought. Daryl sighed and started slowly up the hill toward his and his brother's small camp.

He approached the tent cautiously, not wanting to startle Lily. He crouched in front of the tent opening and tried whispering her name, but got no response. Quietly he pulled the flap back and peered inside. The sun was lower in the sky, making the interior of the tent shadowy. He could barely make out a form lying down in the middle of his tent. He reached out and softly shook her foot. She sat up suddenly, gasping in fear and surprise. Her hair was a wild mass of curls tumbling about her, and her eyes were widened in shock. Daryl put his hands up, signaling to her that he meant no harm. At last she blew out a breath and nodded, recognizing him.

"Okay if I come in," Daryl whispered to her. She nodded again and scooted over to make room for him. Daryl crawled in and sat beside her, his face to the front of the tent to keep an eye out. He looked over at her quietly, noting again the strange color of her eyes-a gray-blue that resembled wolf eyes he'd seen in pictures. With her skin tanned from days spent out in the summer sun her eyes looked even paler. They were definitely eyes you wouldn't forget.

"Merle told me that guy Shane killed Jack and tried ta kill Rick, the guy you came here with," he mumbled. Lily nodded silently. "m sorry to hear that. Bout Jack I mean. Seemed like a nice guy," he stammered on. He could feel his face heating up with embarrassment. "Merle said he don't want no one to know yer here for a bit. Worried bout what Shane might do," Daryl mumbled again. He shifted uncomfortably, uncertain what he should do or say next. He was well aware he had no social skills to speak of, and he was at a total loss in a situation such as this. He felt her hand on his suddenly and made himself stay still instead of flinching away as he usually did when anyone touched him.

"Thanks for letting me stay in here," Lily whispered softly to him. He glanced up and saw her staring at him, a strange look on her face. He nodded and dropped his gaze from hers.

"ya hungry? I got some rabbit I can cook for ya," he offered, still unsure what he should say to her.

"Actually Rick and I raided a store before we headed to Atlanta. There's all kinds of canned stuff in the back of the truck if ya want to help yourself." She smiled softly at him and giggled. "There's even spaghetti o's and stuff like that in there if ya want some," she finished and blushed. Daryl blushed in turn, realizing she'd remembered he liked that kind of stuff. He'd eaten enough of it that week she and Jack had stayed with him and Merle.

"I'll tell Merle and he can go get it. Don't feel I should leave ya alone right now," he answered before he poked his head out the tent flap and called softly to Merle. He whispered to Merle about the canned food in the back of the truck Rick had been driving and Merle hurried off to gather some so he could stop cleaning the damn rabbits. Daryl looked again at Lily's face and realized that her face was terribly bruised and her lips were swollen and cut as well. His mouth tightened in anger, guessing who had done this to her. Looking down at her hands, he noticed how raw her wrists were and then began to see the various bruises up and down her arms as well as around her throat. He thought it was a good thing he hadn't seen all this in the full light of day, otherwise Shane would have had his neck snapped right then and there. He put his hand on Lily's wrist tentatively. "Oh Lily. What did he do to you?" he whispered half to himself.

Lily withdrew her wrist from his touch. She lowered her face from his gaze, her hair falling like a curtain around her. "Don't want to talk about it," she whispered so faintly he had to strain to hear her. Daryl felt his anger start to boil. Like Merle, he could be a real asshole but never ever would he have raised a hand to any woman, no matter what. And Shane was easily twice her weight and nearly twice her height. He would have had a tough time beating Shane down his own self, he couldn't imagine the pain Shane had inflicted on Lily. He reached a hand out to touch her side and she flinched and gasped.

"Merle's got some pain pills-brought his stash with him," Daryl whispered to her. "After ya eat something, take a pill and Merle and I'll keep watch on ya," he continued. Lily looked up at him, and brushed her hair out of her face.

"Thanks Daryl. I appreciate you two helping me-I mean you don't really even know me," she whispered huskily. Daryl nodded and stared quietly at the tent flap, willing Merle to hurry back with the food. He was ashamed of himself-here Lily's boyfriend had been murdered just a short while ago and all he could think was how lucky he was to be around Lily again. There was definitely something wrong with him.

For her part, Lily silently watched Daryl and felt equally guilty. The night Shane had stopped Jack on the road, Lily and Jack had been heading to the Dixon house after having had a few at the bar and all she'd been thinking about on the drive before Shane had stopped them was how badly she wanted to kiss Daryl Dixon. She had planned on ambushing Daryl and somehow forcing a reaction from him when they got to the house.

She had loved Jack, but had known that after this summer they would more than likely have parted ways. Jack had gotten more interested in drinking and drugging than practicing for the rodeos, and had been injured more often due to his increasing carelessness. She had been furious with him for agreeing to shack up with the Dixon brothers after meeting them that first night in town in the local dive. For all Jack had known the Dixons were serial killers or wanted fugitives. But Jack hadn't thought of any of that, all he'd thought about was his need for the pain killers and that Merle had plenty of them.

Luckily the brothers had turned out to be nice guys- to her at least. They were definitely rough around the edges, she'd heard someone in one of the bars call them white trash but to Lily they weren't any different than the various ranch hands she'd grown up around back home on the ranch. Some men were loners, preferred a solitary life and she respected that. And if the world really had gone to hell, the Dixons were the type of guys she wanted to be around-they would be more than capable of taking care of themselves and anyone with them.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Merle had brought some cans back as well as some jugs of water and they had eaten in silence. Daryl had told Merle Lily needed something for pain and Merle had promptly gotten into his stash and given her something telling her it would knock her out for a while but both he and Daryl would keep an eye on her and keep her safe.

Lily had swallowed the pill without complaint and crawled back into the tent to lie down. Within a short time she was deep in sleep. Merle nodded at Daryl and pointed toward the tent. "You stay in there with her, and I'll take first watch. You stick right by her, here? No matter what, don't let her outta yer sight," Merle whispered harshly. Daryl nodded silently, a little taken aback at Merle's fierce protectiveness of Lily. He knew Merle had an intense dislike for Shane as soon as they'd clapped eyes on him, and now this thing with Lily had just given Merle added incentive to rid the group of Shane. He dreaded the scene that he knew would happen sooner rather than later.

"Where's Shane at?" Daryl whispered back. Merle frowned and nodded toward the other camp.

"Sulking in his tent by hisself looks like. Guess he's upset his gal's husband showed up alive and well," Merle snapped. Daryl nodded and crawled into the tent to lie on his back beside Lily. He wasn't in the least bit sleepy, although he felt tired all over. The last two weeks had been two weeks of unrelenting stress and anxiety the like of which he'd never before experienced. And he'd had plenty of stress all his life with parents that drank and beat both him and Merle. But this-dead folks walking around trying to eat the living, and the government dropping bombs on cities and burning folks up. No law anywhere, no one in authority anywhere to tell everyone where to go to be safe or what in the hell had happened. It was like a waking nightmare –for the first time ever he was grateful he and Merle had been basically on their own since they were much younger, able to track and hunt and fend for themselves. Their childhood had been shit but had prepared them well for the end of the world.

He sighed and glanced over at Lily. She was lying on her side, her back to him, shifting restlessly now and then and occasionally a soft moan would escape her lips. He was well acquainted with nightmares, most of the time he preferred not to sleep but to take small catnaps so as to avoid the nightmares that overtook him whenever he was foolish enough to let himself fall into a deep sleep. Daryl turned on his side to face Lily and kept an eye on her as she moved more restlessly. He readied himself to wake her if she started to get too loud-he didn't want to attract attention and sure as hell didn't want Shane to hear her. He reached his hand out slowly, thinking to pat or rub her back and that might calm her down some. Before he could touch her though, she quieted and stilled her movements. He breathed out a sigh and laid back down on his back, closing his eyes to think about how to keep her safe from Shane.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Daryl woke with a start. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, he was supposed to relieve Merle sometime during the night. He lay still, trying to get his bearings and realized Lily was lying up against his side, one of her arms and one of her legs slung over him. He could feel her breath tickling his neck. Why hadn't Merle awakened him? And then he bit back a groan-what if Merle had seen how they were sleeping? He'd never hear the end of it.

He tried to ease away from Lily without disturbing her, but as soon as he shifted she half sat up gasping in surprise. The air was close in the tent, summer was coming full on now and the days and nights would be muggy and hot. He'd lived in Georgia all his life and had never liked the hot, humid summers of the region. He sat up and watched Lily get her bearings.

"Jesus Christ it's hot in here," she whispered, an aggravated tone in her voice. Daryl smirked.

"Summers in the South are like that, Annie Oakley," he teased. Lily blew out a breath of disgust at him and tiredly moved her hair up off her neck and face.

"C'mon with me outside the tent, maybe there's some kinda breeze outside," Daryl whispered and began to crawl out of the tent, Lily right behind him.

Outside the tent, Daryl peered around squinting in the dark to see where Merle was.

"Y'all two lovebirds finally wake the hell up?" Merle's voice startled him from behind him. Turning he saw Merle sitting against a log just to the right of the tent. Lily staggered out of the tent and stumbled into Daryl. Merle snorted as Daryl just kept himself from falling and managed to prop Lily up at the last minute. He sighed. Merle had plenty of material now to torment Daryl for the next month at least.

"Where the hell is the breeze?" Lily whined, yawning and leaning against Daryl. Merle shook his head at her, snickering.

"Guess Annie here aint' used to the hot summers in the South," Merle whispered.

"Is this shit normal?" Lily grumbled, sighing as she rubbed her face and pulled her hair up off her neck again.

Daryl choked back a laugh. "Yeah, girl, this is normal. Why, what's summer like out where you're from?" He pulled her toward Merle and they both sat down on the ground. Merle leaned forward, interested to hear what she had to say.

"Well," Lily sighed, "the nights are cold-even in summer. Especially up in the mountains. Usually slept with a light blanket at least." She yawned again. Merle and Daryl shook their heads at the thought of sleeping with a blanket in the summer in Georgia. "The days are usually warm, 'bout 80 or so, and dry. None of this fucking humidity like down here. God, it's hard to even breathe it's so humid here!" Merle and Daryl laughed softly at this.

"Well, Annie, looks like you're stuck with the shitty hot and humid weather here until we can figure out a way to get ya back home," Merle finally said.

Lily sighed. "What did you guys do to stay cool?" Merle and Daryl looked at each other and snickered again.

"Why, there ain't nothin' ta do to stay cool," Merle rasped. "We was too poor to have air conditionin', just had window fans moving the hot air around. Guess we just got used to sweatin' and stinkin' ever summer," and he laughed softly again.

Lily shook her head. "Oh hell no. I'll be damned if at the end of the world I'm gonna spend my days sweating. Bullshit on that," and she hopped up unsteadily and looked around for the water jug so she could at least wet her face.

Merle looked at the sky and saw dawn wasn't too far off. He nodded at Daryl. "Whyn't you take Annie on down to the water and let her cool off 'fore anyone else wakes up? I'll stand at the top of the trail to keep anyone from joining ya down there," and before Daryl could reply Merle stood up and walked over to Lily. "C'mon girl, Daryl'll take ya down and let ya wash up some 'fore anyone else wakes up. That might help ya cool off some," and he led Lily toward the path that led down to the water in the quarry.

Daryl sighed and followed Merle and Lily to the path. Lily stumbled and swore softly. Merle shook his head. "We gotta find ya some boots or shoes girl. Daryl can carry ya down to the water for now," and Merle waved Daryl over to Lily. Daryl shot his brother a look and Merle snickered. He was rather enjoying himself, much to Daryl's exasperation. Daryl stepped in front of Lily.

"Hop up, I'll piggyback ya down to the water, but don't get used ta it," he muttered, holding his arms out for Lily to hop up on his back. She giggled softly and hopped up and grasping her legs he started down the slight path toward the water. Merle turned toward the other camp to keep an eye out for anyone who woke up early, especially Shane.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

At the water's edge, Lily stripped off her jeans and began walking into the water. She gasped every once in a while as she waded further and further in to the cold water. Finally when she was waist deep she plunged in and rose up gasping and dripping, completely soaked now. Daryl stood holding her jeans watching her as she bobbed up and down and dove under occasionally. He kept glancing back toward Merle and the other camp, worried someone might hear Lily splashing around. After about ten minutes, Daryl waved at her to come back and step out of the water. She sighed and dutifully returned to where Daryl stood and sitting on a rock began to yank the jeans on over her wet skin.

"Why didn't you come in too?" she asked, and immediately Daryl shushed her. She sighed and stood up, her jeans and tshirt clinging to her leaving very little to his imagination. He shifted uncomfortably at the sight of her. He hadn't gotten in the water with her because carrying her down the path had made him rock hard and he wasn't about to let her know it. The thought of carrying her soaking wet pressed up against him back up the path was just making the situation worse. And as was his habit, when he was uncomfortable about anything he became surly.

"Do ya have to be so fucking loud? Do ya want Shane to see ya?" he snapped at her.

Lily flushed with sudden anger at both his tone and his question. She flung her hand back to slap him, and Daryl grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her, inadvertently pulling her right up against his chest.

"Don't you ever raise a fucking hand to me again, ya hear me?" he growled at her. Lily tried to jerk away from him, which made him twist her arm and pull her closer. "I mean it, Lily. Settle yer ass down and keep quiet til we get back up to the tent."

"You let me go, dammit. You're no better than Shane after all," Lily gasped in anger and surprise at Daryl's sudden vehemence.

Daryl flinched at her words and narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't you say that. I wouldn't ever do anything to you like he did. Take it back, dammit," and he shook her roughly, frustrated and upset that she would even think such a thing of him.

"I won't and you can't make me. You're a bully just like him," she spat back at him. He abruptly let her go and she stumbled and fell to the ground. As he glared at her, she began to sob as if her heart were breaking.

Daryl immediately regretted everything he'd just said. He crouched down beside her and tried to pull her to him. "Lily, stop. Please. I didn't mean it. Please don't cry," he whispered urgently to her. She sat up and leaned against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, letting her sob against his chest. He looked up and saw Merle motioning them to come up. He stood up and swung Lily up into his arms and carried her still sobbing up the path and over to their tent. Merle followed them anxiously.

"What the hell happened down there?" Merle muttered. Daryl shook his head and set Lily down on the log Merle had been sitting on.

"She's been through a lot Merle," Daryl mumbled and shook his head again, hoping Merle would shut the hell up and go do something so he could calm Lily down.

Merle nodded and went to rifle through his stash. He returned and handed Daryl a pill. "Have her take that. It'll calm her down and she might even sleep some more. She probably needs some sleep to heal up some from whatever the hell that bastard did to her," and he handed Daryl the water jug. "I'm gonna drift on over to the other camp and see if I can find anything out." And with that Merle turned and headed off toward the other camp.

Daryl coaxed Lily into swallowing the pill and then sat down and pulled her against his chest and held her and mumbled nonsense to her until her sobs slowed and stopped. He rubbed her back and stroked her hair and mentally berated himself for having upset her so badly. He told himself he had to remember to be patient with her, that she'd been through God knew what all and that he shouldn't expect her to just bounce back to normal from it. And aside from all that, they all barely knew each other and were stuck together for now due to circumstances, not choice. If he made her cry all the time like he had now, he could count on her sooner or later finding someone easier to get along with and going off with them. He grimaced at the thought of her going off with someone else and vowed that he would find some way to make her want to stay with him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Merle came back a short while later to find Daryl dozing against the tree trunk with Lily curled up in his lap, his arms wrapped around her. He shook his head, surprised and relieved at the sight. Apparently they were getting better acquainted without his having to nudge Daryl in the right direction. Good. His brother had always been the more tender hearted of the two of them, and he'd long known Daryl longed for a real home and a real family although Daryl would have vehemently denied it had anyone asked him.

Their upbringing had left them both disillusioned to the idea of everyone getting a happily ever after- but Merle also realized that although he himself didn't much care for other people's presence in his life, Daryl needed other people. He was someone who longed for approval, he wanted to feel needed by someone. Merle considered it a weakness on his brother's part, but that was who his brother was and he wanted to see his brother as happy as he could be in this shitty world. Thankfully luck or fate had thrown Lily into their path again and Merle was determined that Daryl should seize this opportunity because God only knew what they'd find as they travelled around. For all he knew, this group was the last people on earth at this point.

Merle stood silently watching his brother and Lily for a few minutes, then roughly kicked Daryl's foot to wake him up. Daryl started and Merle smirked at the embarrassment on Daryl's face.

"Wake up, lazy ass. We're gonna pack up and get moving. Dale spotted some walkers not too far from here, and we want to head out before they get up on us," and with that Merle commenced to packing up the camp site. Daryl shifted Lily off his lap and leaned her against the tree trunk he'd been leaning on.

"She's knocked out Merle," he whispered anxiously to his brother.

Merle nodded. "Good. We'll get packed up and then she can ride in the truck with you. I'll head up the front on my bike. You keep out of Shane's site." Merle snickered and shook his head. "You should see that asshole stomping around over there. Seems Rick told Shane that he was taking his new truck back, and thanked Shane for being so thoughtful for having brought Lori and Carl in it." Daryl looked at his brother sharply.

"He wasn't serious?" he muttered in surprise.

"No," Merle laughed louder. "You could tell he was trying to bait Shane into a fight. That Rick is more interesting than I gave him credit for. Yeah, this is gonna be real interesting to watch," and Merle wandered off to pack their belongings in the back of Daryl's old truck. Daryl glanced over at Lily, relieved she was still sleeping soundly. He finished cleaning up their campsite out of habit and then walked over to Lily to pick her up and carry her over to his truck.

As Daryl finished tucking her into the passenger side of his truck, he turned to see Shane heading toward their site. Nervously he yanked his leather vest off and threw it over Lily's face to cover her should Shane look into the cab. He strode over to Shane, blocking him from coming any closer to the cab.

"What the fuck do ya want?" he snapped irritably at Shane. He had felt an instant dislike toward this man as soon as he'd laid eyes on him, just like Merle had. And now he felt an intense hatred toward him. He wasn't going to pretend to be polite or pleasant toward him.

Shane smirked in that arrogant way that made Daryl want to knock the look off his face. Here was the same type of asshole he'd dealt with all his life-one of those pricks who thought they were better than him or his family and who were dead set on rubbing Daryl's nose in that knowledge as much as possible.

"Well, I realize you and your brother are busy but I just wanted to see if you were ready to head out. We're leaving in five. 'Course if you and your brother want to head off in your own direction, no one would stop you." Daryl grit his teeth as he tried to resist the urge to lunge at Shane and pound his face bloody.

"Fuck you," Daryl spat back. "Guess you're trying ta make yerself useful now that yer boss is here," he growled. Shane bowed up at that and took a step forward, his fists clenched and poised to swing. Merle whistled sharply, startling both men.

"Hey there, asshole. We don't need anyone tellin' us what to do. And I already pow wowed with Rick, the leader of yer little group, so we sure don't need your sorry ass traipsing around our stuff and bothering us," Merle nearly shouted as he swaggered over toward the two men. Movement caught the corner of his eye and he saw that Lily was gazing sleepily out the rear cab window. He walked toward Shane, trying to maneuver him to looking back toward the other camp and away from the truck.

Shane frowned angrily and as expected turned toward Merle. Merle tsked. Just like waving a red flag at a bull.

"You need to watch your damn mouth," Shane growled back at Merle.

"Or what? Ya gonna arrest me?" taunted Merle, stepping backward leading Shane further away from the truck. Daryl turned toward the truck and saw Lily sitting up gazing stupidly at him, obviously still drugged from the pill. He hurried over and yanked the cab door open.

"Lie down," he hissed urgently and Lily nodded and laid back down. Daryl hopped into the cab and slammed the door shut anxiously. He started the truck up and turned it around to face outward and waited for Merle to walk back and get on his bike. He could see Merle steadily running his mouth at Shane and when Merle saw Daryl in the truck he abruptly stopped walking and pointed at Shane, saying something. Then he laughed and easily sidestepped Shane and jogged over toward his bike. Shane turned to glare after Merle then turned and headed toward the truck he'd be riding in with Glen.

Merle motioned for Daryl to stay in the back and he rode off toward the front of the caravan. Daryl turned the air on low, the cab already stuffy even this early in the day. At least while they were in the truck they'd have some relief from the heat. He glanced over at Lily again and saw she was deep in sleep. Hopefully she'd sleep most of the ride and then they could figure out how to hide her once they set up camp again.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Daryl realized as he followed the group of cars that they were headed back into the city. He began to look at the signs and soon deduced they were headed to the CDC. Great. If they were all together in the CDC or some quarantine place he and Merle wouldn't be able to hide Lily from Shane any longer. Of course, if there were other people around Shane would have a more difficult time getting hold of Lily. He shifted uneasily in his seat as he followed along, thinking up possible scenarios involving Shane and Lily-each far worse than the previous one. He rubbed his hand over his face and told himself to stop it. No sense worrying about the situation, he'd just have to wait until they got to the CDC and hopefully talk to Merle.

Two long hours later the group finally arrived at the CDC. Daryl was sweating despite the air being on, nerves strung to breaking at the thought of Shane seeing Lily and what might happen. He sighed and pulled into the lot keeping just a little away from the other cars. Merle pulled up beside him on his bike. Daryl rolled his window down and Merle turned the bike off.

"How's our girl?" Merle asked, trying to peer over Daryl toward Lily.

"Knocked out. What the hell did ya giver her, Merle?" Daryl growled back.

"Just a Valium, and just a 5. Course she's a little thing, and been through a lot lately so it probably knocked her for a loop." He smirked at the look on Daryl's face. "Don't worry baby brother, sleeping beauty will be safe from Shane. You let me worry about that asshole for now, your main job is keeping her quiet and out of sight." He motioned for Daryl to stay in the truck while he went over to where Rick stood at the entrance to the building. Daryl watched as Rick appeared to be arguing on a speaker with somebody. After about ten minutes or so, Daryl saw the door open and Rick motioned for everyone to go in. Merle motioned for him to wait and then disappeared inside the building.

Daryl lit a cigarette and turned the engine off after opening the window to let the smoke out. He was on his third cigarette when he saw Merle headed back toward the truck. "Grab Annie and carry her on in. That smug asshole is following Rick around trying to look important in there. We can get her in and into a room while he's occupied," and Merle grabbed a bag of their clothes out of the truck bed while Daryl carefully pulled Lily out of the truck and slung her over his back.

They hurried over to the entrance and after Merle checked inside to see if all was clear, he and Daryl stepped inside and locked the door behind them. It was dim inside, Daryl guessed the place was operating on generators and they were being careful about the power use. Although the place was shadowy, it was blessedly cool. At least they were keeping the building air on thankfully.

Daryl followed Merle down a corridor and turned to follow him down another hallway. After another minute of creeping carefully along the hallways, Merle stopped in front of a doorway. "This should be a room we can use. Some guy Jenner told Rick there's showers here, food, water, and these dorm like rooms with beds and shit in them. Go on ahead and get her settled and I'll go check out where everyone else has gone," and again before Daryl could reply Merle was off down the corridor. He sighed in irritation and stepped into the room, looking about him curiously. It was not too small, big enough for a full bed and dresser, as well as a tv and small couch.

Daryl carefully deposited Lily onto the bed and stood and stretched. He sat down on the couch and lit another cigarette, thinking as he smoked. He and Merle would have to take shifts with Lily to make sure she wasn't seen by Shane. Or anyone else for that matter. He hadn't been around that group but a few weeks and he already knew the women were worse for gossiping than any he'd ever heard of. He sure didn't need them to start yakking about Lily and have Shane hear it. He stretched again and stood to pace restlessly.

He turned toward the bed, hearing Lily stir. He went over and sat beside her, brushing her hair out of her face. She smiled sleepily up at him. "Where are we? And what the hell did Merle give me? I feel like I am just too tired to move," she whispered to him. She coughed and cleared her throat, desperate for a drink of something. Daryl looked around for something he could give her to drink and started at the knock on the door. He put a finger to his mouth to signal Lily to hush and walked over to the door.

"Who is it?" he mumbled.

"Just your favorite brother, baby brother. Open up, I brought ya some food and something ta drink," Merle whispered back.

Daryl yanked the door open and Merle stepped in with a little flourish, waving cans of soda and bags of chips and cookies at them. Daryl grabbed a soda from Merle and handed it to Lily. She popped it open and chugged half of it down greedily. Then belched, loudly. Merle and Daryl stared at her, and she blushed. "Guess we don't have ta worry about our manners around ya," Merle teased and Lily turned even more red.

"Okay, so the women are fixing up some dinner down in the kitchen area. Spaghetti I think," and Merle grinned at the look on Daryl's face. Daryl loved spaghetti, often making a complete pig of himself anytime they had cooked any. And then he'd sit around bellyaching about how he'd eaten so much he felt sick. Merle snickered in anticipation and Daryl shot him a look knowing full well what Merle was laughing about. "And Annie, I'm sorry but with Shane prowling around I can't let ya out and about just yet. But later on when we're sure the asshole's asleep we'll sneak ya out so you can prowl a bit with us." Merle smirked at the aggravated look on Lily's face. "Tell ya what, from what I hear there's alcohol here. Maybe I can get Shane good and drunk and then when he passes out we can see about talking to Rick about how to handle this whole situation." Lily nodded in agreement.

Merle clapped Daryl on the back and Daryl flinched and glared at Merle. "Now baby brother, if ya want I'll sit here with young Annie and ya can go and socialize with the folks if ya feel the need." He snickered again at the look of disgust his brother shot him. He crossed over to a door and opening it he nodded. "Well there's a bathroom here with a shower and toilet and sink so one of y'all can clean up while I go check on dinner and prowl around."

"Wait," Lily yelped. Merle turned in surprise and Daryl lifted his eyebrow at her. "Daryl can go with you. I'll lock the door and put a chair in front of it. I know he's tired of babysitting me," Lily blurted out.

Merle thought a minute and nodded. "A'ight. But do NOT, under any circumstances, open that door to anyone other than Daryl or me," he said firmly to Lily. She nodded and Merle pushed Daryl toward the door. "Girl's right, folks'll start thinking yer sick if they don't see ya out and about. Plus you can prowl in different areas so we get a better idea what we're dealing with," and Merle pushed Daryl out the door as he continued to whisper his plans.

Lily immediately crossed the room and locked the door and then shoved a chair in front of the door like she'd seen in movies. She looked at the duffel bag Merle had brought in and realized it only contained their clothes. The clothes she'd grabbed from Rick's were still in Rick's duffel bag. Sighing, she picked through the clothes in the bag and finally found a shirt she thought would adequately cover her as well as a pair of boxers she could wear until her underthings dried from washing them in the sink. Stepping into the bathroom, she closed and locked that door as well before turning the shower water on. The air conditioning was colder than she'd like, but she certainly wasn't going to complain after that god awful heat and humidity she'd been sweating in yesterday and today. She stepped into the shower and hoped the water would wake her up some. The next time Merle offered her a pill she was only taking half. She'd never felt this lazy and tired in her life. No wonder Jack had liked taking them-she sure didn't hurt from all her bruises and cuts, but who wanted to sleep all the damn time?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Lily had showered and dressed and found some old paperback to read by the time Daryl and Merle returned to the room. She let them in and immediately blushed when they both ran their eyes over the tshirt and boxers she was wearing. She crossed her arms self consciously over her chest and glared at them.

"The clothes I brought are in Rick's duffel bag and they're Lori's clothes we got from their house. Don't have any of my stuff at all-don't know what that fucker Shane did with our car we were in or what he did with any of our stuff." She shrugged in annoyance at their continued stares.

"Well, I'll just have ta get some clothes from Rick then," Merle said and turned and walked back out the door before Lily or Daryl could say anything.

Daryl stood awkwardly, his face beet red at seeing Lily in his boxers and tshirt. "Um, brought ya some spaghetti," he mumbled and stumbled over to the couch and placed a bowl with tinfoil covering it on the little side table. He backed up and leant against the wall and began fidgeting immediately, finally lighting a cigarette. Lily frowned at him. Why on earth was he so nervous around her? They'd spent a week together talking and he'd watched her in the rodeo and they'd spent nights hanging out at his house. The way he was acting you'd think he'd never seen her before.

Lily crossed the room and sat down on the couch, grabbing the bowl and lifting the foil to look at the spaghetti. "Was everyone eating together?" she asked as she poked at the spaghetti with a fork he'd handed her.

"mmm, yeah." Lily looked over at him.

"How many people are there?" He hadn't been much of a talker that week she and Jack had stayed at the house but he'd definitely talked more than this.

"mmmm, let's see. Ed and Carol and their girl, Glen and T dog, Dale and Andrea and her sister Amy, Martinez and his wife and two kids, some chick named Jacqui. Me and Merle. Rick and Lori and their boy." He fell silent, reluctant to say Shane's name out loud.

Lily flicked her gaze up at him again. "Who all is here at this place? Are there any doctors or anything still here?"

Daryl shook his head. "Just one guy looks like. Said everyone else ran off when the shit hit the fan."

Lily frowned at this. "Why in the hell did he stay here? Doesn't he have any family?"

Daryl shrugged and took a deep drag of his cigarette. "Guess not."

Lily set the bowl down abruptly on the table and huffed a breath of exasperation. "Are you mad at me or something?"

Daryl shifted restlessly and avoided looking at her. "No."

Lily stood up and crossed the room to where he stood against the wall. "Then why aren't you talking to me?"

Daryl looked up in surprise. "Huh? I'm talkin' to ya."

Lily shook her head. "No, you talked to me that week you took me to the rodeo every night. Right now it's like pulling teeth to get anything out of you. If you're mad at me you need to tell me so I don't do whatever I did again." And she crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

Daryl fidgeted and looked anywhere but directly at her. "Fuck, I ain't mad Lily. I just don't talk a lot. Never did." And he shrugged irritably.

Lily studied him silently for a minute. "You promise me you'll tell me if I make you mad?"

Daryl glanced up at her and sighed. He remembered just from that brief week that once she got an idea in her head she didn't let it go. Jack had jokingly called her his little stubborn mule once and she'd thrown something at him angrily. He definitely had noted in that week that she had a very quick temper. Jack had also called her his firecracker, and smiled indulgently when he told them she was like the thunderstorms out on the plains-quick to blow up and just as quick to blow out. He'd said that was what had first attracted him to her-she was the spice he'd needed in his life. Daryl had a strong aversion to conflict and arguing and he had no intention of letting anyone bully him or wrap him around their finger. He realized he'd better let her know she wouldn't get away with the shit with him that she'd gotten away with Jack.

"Lily, I ain't mad at ya. I just don't like to talk a lot. But believe me if you make me mad you will not need me to tell ya-I think ya already saw that earlier today. Didn't mean ta make ya cry, but I ain't gonna tolerate no one hitting me or yelling at me. Understand?"

Lily flushed and felt like she'd been scolded like a kid. She bit her lip and went back to the couch and sat down again. Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned away from him so he wouldn't see her cry.

The door flung open and both Daryl and Lily flinched. Merle stomped in and noticed Lily's flushed face and the stubborn look on his brother's face. He had a feeling his brother had met his match in stubbornness and temper in Lily. It would be interesting to see how this played out.

Merle laid some clothes on the bed. "Got some stuff from Rick. Told him I didn't care how he explained it but I didn't want him telling Lori bout ya. That bitch will go right to Shane and tell him."

Lily frowned at this. "What?"

Merle made a sound of disgust. "Oh, right. You weren't around for all that shit. Seems Shane's already been banging Lori and now she's trying to figure out how to keep sneaking with Shane and not have Rick find out. Or at least that's the way it looks."

Lily flung her hands out in disgust. "You're kidding me right? That poor man was left for dead and she didn't even check to see if Shane told her the truth and she's already been fucking him?" She shook her head. "Jesus, that poor guy. He's so nice. And good looking too. She was lucky to have him, what in the hell possessed her to do anything with that asshole?" She stomped over to the bed and rummaged around in the clothes Merle had placed there.

Merle looked over at Daryl and saw his brother staring moodily at Lily's back. Oh hell, now his brother was jealous of Rick. He wasn't going to miss watching tv, he'd have plenty of entertainment with just these two. He moved toward the couch and sat down sighing.

"Brother, we got another problem on our hands," he grumbled. Lily turned to look at Merle and Daryl frowned.

"What?" Daryl and Lily both said and Merle snorted.

"Well, I get the feeling that asshole Ed is beatin' on his wife," and he lit a cigarette and watched Daryl's face closely.

"Why do you think that?" Lily blurted out. Daryl shot her a look and nodded at Merle.

"Cuz she's always nervous around him, like she's waitin' for him to hit her," Daryl said quietly. Lily sat on the bed abruptly. "Merle and I both noticed it right off. That and we could sometimes hear him kinda yellin' at her and the kid at night after everyone had gotten settled." 

Merle nodded and sighed.

"Why doesn't somebody tell him to stop?" Lily asked looking at both men expectantly.

Merle sighed again. "Cuz the fuckers smart enough to keep it hid. Cain't nobody say nothin' as long as he doesn't do it out in the open. And she's scared enough of him, she ain't gonna admit it if ya ask her."

Daryl nodded and sighed as well. Lily watched them both carefully.

"How do you two know about this shit?" she whispered, afraid that what they told her wouldn't be good.

Daryl started to pace and Merle glanced at him. "Our daddy beat on our mama and us. Not gonna get into no long stories, just enough ta tell ya that we know the signs well in other folks." Merle took a long drag on his cigarette and watched Daryl pace anxiously. Whenever any discussion with anyone veered into abuse of any kind-animals or people-Daryl would get anxious and restless and pace. And then he'd go out in the woods and disappear for a day or two to blow off steam. Of course, he couldn't go out into the woods now so Merle wondered what his brother would do to blow off steam in here.

Lily slipped into the bathroom and changed into jeans and a tshirt and folded Daryl's tshirt up before stepping back in the room. She looked questioningly at Merle and Merle shrugged. "Daryl went out to find a wall to punch or something. He's like a wild animal when he gets upset bout this shit. Used to he'd go off hunting for a day or two if he got upset, cain't do that now." Merle stood up and started for the door. "Lock it behind me girl, I'll see if I can find him and make sure he don't break nothin'" and Merle went out closing the door behind him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lily had fallen asleep on the bed before Merle and Daryl came back in the room. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. Daryl came over to the bed and knelt down in front of her. "Got another problem Lily," he whispered. Lily looked at Merle and saw how angry he was. Her eyes widened and she turned back to Daryl.

"That bitch Lori told Shane 'bout ya," Merle spat out. Lily looked at both men and tried to get out of bed.

Daryl shook his head and put his hand on her arm. "Rick and some of the other guys are trying to talk ta Shane now in some office. Trying to keep him from finding ya." Lily nodded and started to tremble.

"Either of you have a knife?" she said quietly. Daryl and Merle looked at each other in surprise. "I know how to throw a damn knife and I aint' lettin' that sorry bastard get near me again. Either that or give me a damn gun so I can blow his fucking head off." She pushed Daryl's hand off her and stood up, taking a deep breath. "I'm tired of hiding. Give me a gun or a knife and take me to where he is. I want this over with."

Daryl and Merle snapped their mouths shut and nodded. Daryl handed her his hunting knife and tucked his gun into her waistband. He slung his crossbow over his shoulder and Merle checked his gun. Lily ran her hands over the knife, checking how sharp it was and the heft of it. She suddenly flung the knife at the far wall and it landed with a loud thud. Merle whistled in appreciation and Daryl gaped. She hadn't ever shown him any knife throwing that week of the rodeo. She knew what she was doing and he suddenly felt less anxious about her since she apparently had more skills than he had realized.

Lily crossed the room and retrieved the knife and flipped it a few times in her hands. "Alright, come on. That fucker is gonna find out how well I can defend myself when my hands aren't cuffed." And she marched over, flung the door open and stepped out into the hall.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 **I want to give a special thank you to my two favorite reviewers, Mistyeye and arrowsandangels-you guys have been super supportive and helpful with all my chapters of all my stories. I can't thank you enough.**

 **As a side note, I really wish TWD hadn't killed Merle off when they did-the character had so much potential and I really found him interesting. Which is why I try to keep him around in my stories.**

Lily walked down the hall with Merle and Daryl flanking her on either side. She was taking deep breaths to calm herself and tried to imagine she was going to perform in a show and that Shane was going to be her target for a knife throwing act. She tried to concentrate on her breathing, and willed herself to remain numb and emotionless when she encountered Shane face to face. She had thrown knives in shows before, the only difference was that this time she would be aiming to hit a live target.

Merle and Daryl stopped in front of a door and Merle knocked. The door opened and Rick looked out.

"Lily here wants to talk to Shane. In front of everyone I believe," Merle announced and Lily nodded. Rick sighed and nodded and stepped back to hold the door open. Entering the room, Lily saw Shane tied up sitting in a chair angrily yelling at the other men. Lori, Andrea and Jacqui were standing against the far wall as well as all the other men. Lily took another deep breath and stepped out from behind Merle.

Shane immediately went mad. "You fucking bitch! You fucking whore! What the hell have you been saying about me?" he yelled in fury at her. Lily looked over at Lori and saw her flinch and avert her eyes. Rick stood near Merle, glaring at Shane.

Lily took a step closer and Shane wrestled angrily against his restraints. T dog and Martinez took a cautious step closer to him.

"Don't think I really needed to say anything you sorry motherfucker," Lily said quietly and coldly, her hands playing with the knife. "Seems just the fact you told Rick's wife and kid he was dead is enough to show all these people that you're a liar and not to be trusted," she continued calmly. Daryl took a step closer to her so she knew he had her back but kept silent so she could talk.

Shane shook his head angrily. "I didn't lie about anything you slut. I thought my best friend was dead and tried to keep his family safe," he sputtered, looking wildly at both Lori and Rick. "Rick, I've known you since we were kids. You know I'd never do anything like what that bitch is saying."

Lily looked at Rick and he remained silent, glaring at Shane. "That why you shot him in the back and hit him in the head?" Lily asked, her voice rising with her anger. Shane jerked around in the chair, his face a mask of fury now.

"I never did anything like that! You and that piece of trash you were riding with ambushed us," he began.

Lily took another step forward and pointed the knife blade at him. "Bullshit," she shouted. "You don't start telling the truth and I'll cut that lying tongue out of your mouth you piece of shit."

Shane yelled. "Rick! Lori! You gotta believe me, I never did anything like she's saying. She's a liar and a whore."

Rick stepped forward now and took his shirt off to reveal his gunshot wound. "Funny, but the entrance wound is in my back, the exit is on my chest. That could only have happened if the person behind me shot me Shane, and the only person behind me was you." Lori gasped and the men grumbled.

"No Rick, no. Her boyfriend shot you," Shane yelled desperately, the realization that no one believed him slowly sinking in.

"Who the hell hit him in the head then?" Lily spat. "You did. You tried to kill your friend and you did kill Jack. And then while you waited for the ambulance to come you raped me. And when you took me back to the jail you raped me again. And again. You sorry mother fucker," Lily yelled. "There's a special place in hell for sick bastards like you, and I intend to send you there myself," and with one swift movement Lily flung the knife at Shane and it slammed into his chest.

Shane gasped in shock and Lori screamed and burst into tears. Merle and Daryl stepped up to Lily to prevent anyone from grabbing her. Rick shook his head at everyone else in the room.

"Nobody touch Lily. She has a right to this. There's no court or trials anymore. Shane had a chance to tell the truth to all of us and he lied. Lily has a right to exact punishment on Shane. As do I."

Shane struggled, still alive but just barely. "Rick, I didn't do it. Believe me. You're like a brother to me." Rick pulled his gun and pointing it right at Shane's face shot Shane point blank.

The gunshot echoed in the room, and everyone let out a little sigh of shock. Daryl walked over and yanked the knife from Shane's chest and wiped it clean on his pants. Rick walked over to Lily and placed his hand on her arm. "Thank you Lily. You're a brave woman and I owe you for telling me the truth about Shane. Please think about staying with this group –we're going to need tough people who have some sense about how to take care of themselves if we're going to survive." He nodded to Merle and walked over to Lori and began to talk quietly to her.

Daryl walked back to Lily and handed her the knife. "Keep this. Ya are just full of surprises girl," and he pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Tdog and Martinez went to discuss what to do with Shane's body with Rick. Merle came to stand beside Lily and Daryl and ran a hand down her back soothingly. Daryl's mouth fell open in shock. "Proud of ya, baby girl. Rick's right, yer a brave girl. Think I might adopt ya as my sister, always wanted a sister and instead I got a willful, hot tempered, stubborn ass brother," and Merle chuckled at the look on Daryl's face. "I think our girl needs something hot to eat and maybe a shot of something ta drink. What do ya say, Sissy?" And Merle wrapped his arm around Lily and pulled her into his embrace and walked her toward the kitchen, Daryl following behind fuming.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Merle, Lily and Daryl entered the kitchen to see Carol and Amy tidying up and trying to keep Carol's daughter and Carl occupied. Martinez' wife had taken their children to their room, not wanting to hear anything about the goings on with Shane.

"Hey, there ladies," Merle yelled happily. He was in a rare good mood-he always enjoyed a fight and the sight of the little gal his baby brother was sweet on chunking a knife into that asshole Shane's chest had given him a thrill like he'd never felt from watching a fight before. He really was proud of her and he was determined to keep her around-whether Daryl and she ever worked out or not. "Our gal here is in need of some hot food and a stiff drink. Think y'all can take care of her?"

Carol and Amy stared in astonishment at Merle. In the short time they'd known him they'd never seen him this gregarious –he was almost giddy. And who was the girl with the brothers? Where had she come from?

Merle pushed Lily into a chair at a table and practically strutted over to the counter where Carol and Amy stood gaping at him. "Well, cat got y'alls tongues?" And he snickered at the looks on their faces.

Daryl shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face. He himself had never seen Merle this excited about anything. He was beginning to wonder if Merle hadn't snorted something or popped some pills at some point in the last couple of hours. He walked over to Carol and Amy quietly and nodded back at Lily. "She needs somethin' ta eat and some soda or milk or tea," he trailed off as Merle shot him a look. He looked over to where Lily sat in time to see her face go white and her eyes roll up in her head. He ran over and grabbed at her before she fell out of the chair and onto the floor.

Merle ran over to Lily as well and helped Daryl pick her up. "Y'all rustle up somethin' for Annie here and I'll be back to get it," he yelled over his shoulder at the women. He followed Daryl out and down the corridors toward their room. Opening the door, Merle stepped aside so Daryl could enter and then he ran back out toward the kitchen while Daryl got Lily situated on the bed. Daryl went into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with cold weather and then sitting beside Lily he gently wiped her face and neck.

Lily slowly opened her eyes and gazed around her in confusion. "What the hell happened?" she mumbled.

"Ya passed smooth out Lily," Daryl whispered back, continuing to hold the wet cloth to her forehead.

Lily frowned. "Jesus Christ. I ain't never passed out in my life and here the world goes to shit and all I do is pass the hell out," she snapped. Daryl snorted and sat back.

"Well, ya have been through more shit than usual," he mumbled. Lily cut him a sharp look.

"No shit," she gritted out in irritation. Daryl snickered.

"I'm just sayin' none of us is used to the shit going on right now. S'prised all of us ain't fallin' out or some shit like that," he mumbled and turned red at the admission.

Lily looked at him quietly, thinking about what he was saying. "Yeah, I think I'd rather get kicked and trampled by a damn horse than go through the shit I been through the last coupla weeks," she grumbled. Daryl nodded sympathetically.

Merle burst in the door carrying a platter of sandwiches, more chips, some kind of cookies, a bottle of Jack Daniels and more soda. "Got those women runnin' round like chickens with their heads off," he snickered. "Now you sit up and get some food in ya, Annie. I'm gonna go and talk ta Rick and the others 'bout our next move." Daryl turned and looked curiously at Merle-his brother was practically babbling. What the hell was Merle on?

"Hey, what do you mean our next move?" Lily asked quickly as Merle practically danced back to the door.

"Well we cain't stay here," Merle said shrugging, thinking that was obvious. "We need ta figure out where we're going to go when we leave here," he continued and turned to go.

"Hey wait a minute," Lily yelped. Merle turned impatiently back toward her. "Don't any of the women get a say in this? I'll be damned if all you men are gonna make all the decisions for everyone," she huffed out frowning.

Merle smirked. "Well now, ya have a point. How 'bout we men pow wow tonight and then tomorrow we can all discuss it?" Daryl's mouth dropped open in shock. Seriously, who was this guy and where the hell was his brother?

Lily smiled, gulled by Merle's act. "Okay, that's good. Let me know what you guys talk about. And hey, tell them that I think we should go north or out west. To mountains and where it's cold. I'm not spending the rest of whatever time I have left sweating down here in the damned south," and she grinned happily at Merle and reached for a sandwich from the platter Merle had given to Daryl.

Merle grinned and nodded agreeably. Then, when Lily was looking at the sandwiches on the platter he quickly winked at Daryl and trotted out the door. Daryl sighed. Oh, god. What was Merle up to? And after seeing Lily chunk that knife into Shane's chest, Merle should be cautious about trying to pull the wool over her eyes. A girl who could do that was not a girl to be trifled with.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Lily had eaten half a sandwich and part of a cookie and guzzled two cans of soda before lying down and drifting off to sleep. Daryl lay beside her on the bed on his back, smoking a cigarette as he thought about everything that had happened the last few days. It made his head hurt –he'd never had too much to think about other than where to hunt for the day and where to camp for the night. Now in the short space of a few weeks the world as he'd known it-as shitty as it had been-had become infinitely worse. Every day from now on was going to be literally a matter of life or death. Avoiding those creatures-walkers, geeks, whatever they were called- trying to find a safe place to bunk in, trying to keep fed and not get sick or hurt. He never imagined that his life as shitty as it had been would've been idyllic compared to his life as it was presently.

Daryl sighed and looked over to where Lily slept beside him. As he gazed at her, he noticed she was trembling and starting to moan softly in her sleep. Yeah, he would've been surprised if she hadn't had a nightmare from what had happened earlier.

He propped himself up on his side and watched her quietly, trying to gauge if he should try to wake her. She rolled onto her side, facing him, and gasped and began to thrash about. Daryl placed his hand on her cheek softly and began to whisper to her. "Shhh, it's just a bad dream, Lily," he said. He ran his hand down her arm gently and continued to whisper to her. "Shhhh, girl. It's okay."

Lily opened her eyes suddenly and stared at Daryl in confusion. "It's okay, Lily. Ya were havin' a bad dream," he whispered again. She nodded and licked her chapped lips. She put her hand on his cheek as if to be sure he was real. As she moved her arm, Daryl's hand fell to her side and without thinking he slid his hand to her hip as she scooted closer to him.

"Kiss me," she whispered against his mouth. And without thinking, Daryl closed the space between them and kissed her –softly at first, hesitantly. Lily answered his kiss with an urgency that surprised him. Sighing, his hand slid to her ass and he pulled her ever closer to him. Lily's hand clutched at his shirt and her mouth parted under his. His tongue slipped into her mouth and she moaned softly.

As if he were suddenly on autopilot, not thinking of anything other than the way Lily's mouth felt against his and how smooth and soft her skin was, his hand slid under her shirt and he stroked the bare skin of her back. Lily rolled onto her back, pulling Daryl along with her. He rested his knees between her legs, crouching over her as they continued to kiss. His hand slipped to her breast and at his touch Lily arched her back and sighed against his mouth. She moved restlessly against him and moved to pull his shirt off. Daryl shook his head and grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. With his other hand he pushed her shirt up and bent his mouth to her breast. She moaned again and arched her back. He moved his mouth to her other breast while his free hand kneaded and teased her nipple.

"Jesus, Daryl," she gasped and moved her hips anxiously.

"Knock knock!" Merle's voice suddenly boomed from outside the door. Daryl swore softly and jumped off the bed while Lily pulled her shirt back down and sat up, her face flushed. Merle flung the door open and Daryl kept his back to Merle and shifted irritably, trying to adjust himself so Merle wouldn't see.

"Well, hey now kids. Just ol' Merle here, hope I'm not interruptin' anything," and he snickered, seeing that indeed he had interrupted something. He waved a bottle of Southern Comfort at Daryl. "Came ta see if ya'd wanna come drink with the rest of us men," he continued, eyeing Lily's flushed face and Daryl's fidgeting. "'Course if ya got somethin' better ta do, I can leave y'all alone," he teased and headed back to the door.

"Hold on, I'll go with ya," Daryl snapped. Lily's mouth fell open in surprise and she frowned at Daryl but he wouldn't meet her gaze. He turned toward the door and stomped out leaving Merle staring after him.

"Don't worry, Sissy. Be patient and everything'll turn out right," Merle whispered drunkenly to Lily as he stumbled out the door after Daryl and closed it loudly.

Lily jumped out of bed angrily and began to pace about, feeling very frustrated and confused. Who the hell in their right mind would rather go drink with a bunch of men instead of staying in bed with a woman? She shook her head in disgust and threw the plate of sandwiches at the wall impetuously. The loud bang and shattering of the plate did nothing to soothe her nerves. Well, she wasn't about to sit in here waiting on Daryl's ass to come back. She could go prowl around and find someone to talk to her own self. She tucked her knife into her back pocket and flung the door open and stomped out, slamming it behind her.


	17. Chapter 17

Just a quick note-I had the best time writing this chapter. I wanted something on the order of Stephen King here, it's a scary situation but there is still some humor in it. SK is the master of that. I'm definitely nowhere near his genius, but I wanted there to be something silly in this anyway.

Chapter 17

Lily headed off in the opposite direction of where she'd gone earlier that evening. She wandered the corridors, peeking into offices and rooms and finding nothing of interest and no one to talk to. Sighing she turned around and headed back in the opposite direction. After a few turns, she realized she was lost. She hadn't really been paying very close attention when she'd first left the room because she was angry and frustrated. And now she couldn't remember which hallways she'd already been down. Sighing again, she kicked the wall in frustration and immediately regretted it as she had no shoes on. She hopped around a minute cursing and shaking her foot, then leaned against the wall and tried to get her bearings.

She grabbed her knife and began running it along the wall of the hall she was walking down to mark her trail. Who cared if she was damaging a public building at this point? There was no one left to scold her for it or who would even care she had done it.

A few more corridors later she peeked in yet another room and saw a lone man sitting at a desk. He seemed to be engrossed in some paperwork on his desk. This must be the guy Daryl and Merle had told her about-the only dummy left in this entire building. She cleared her throat and he looked up quickly.

"Um hi there. I seem to have gotten lost and I wondered if you could tell me which hallway to take to get back to my room," she said hesitantly, fidgeting in the doorway.

The man stared at her blankly and Lily frowned. Maybe he had gone crazy which would mean he would be of no help to her. She waited to see if he was going to say anything and when he remained silent she blew out a breath of irritation and turned to go back out into the hall.

"Wait," the man said suddenly and Lily stopped and turned back to him. "I'll come with you and show you which hall to take," and he stood up quickly and crossed the room. Lily backed up quickly, not sure if she wanted this man anywhere near her. Couldn't he just tell her which hall to take? "Follow me," he mumbled and started off down another hall. Lily followed a safe distance from him, keeping her knife in her hand in case he did anything strange.

After a few more turns the man stopped in front of the kitchen Lily had been in earlier. "Can you find your way back from here?" he asked her quietly. Lily looked around uncertainly and nodded, hoping he'd go away and leave her alone to figure it out. "Just so you know, I plan on starting the countdown tomorrow morning." Lily looked at him uncomprehendingly. "I'm going to blow the building up so it can't fall into enemy hands," he explained.

Lily's mouth dropped open. "What the hell are you talking about?" she yelped.

The man continued to gaze at her sadly. "I don't want the center to fall into enemy hands. So you should all evacuate by eight in the morning because that's when I'm setting the device off."

Lily shook her head in bewilderment. "What? What are you talking about? Why the hell are you going to blow the place up? What on earth is here that you don't want someone to get their hands on?" She started to wave the knife in her hand nervously.

"Why there's information here about the virus. It shouldn't fall into the wrong hands," the man murmured and Lily noticed he was no longer looking at her but was gazing off and slightly behind her. She backed up a bit and quickly looked over her shoulder to see if there was someone behind her. Seeing no one, she gazed back at the man to see him turning to head back to his office.

"Hey now," she blurted out. The man turned to her and stared blankly at her. "Um, why don't you wait to talk to the guys here and see if that's really a smart idea. I mean, you're barricaded in here, doesn't look like any random person would be able to get in here anyway. And if you're worried about wanting to go home and check on your family or something we could hold the place down til you come back," she babbled. This man was clearly off his rocker and if those idiot men were all drinking they weren't really going to be in any shape to talk this man out of blowing the place up.

The man looked at her sadly. "No need to leave to check on my family. I had them come here when things started getting out of control. And I made sure they're safe here." Lily nodded, her mind whirling.

"Oh how nice," she said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. "Well, where are they? I'd sure like to meet them," she smiled her most fake sweet smile she'd ever used in the rodeo shows when some bitch had irritated her.

"Oh, they're resting now. Soon we'll all be resting together for eternity," he said and smiled. Lily flinched at his smile. That was a smile she would be seeing in nightmares for years to come, she was sure of it. And that smile told her this man had gone completely around the bend and into some place he wasn't ever coming back from. She stepped back from him a few more steps and held her knife a bit more firmly in her hand, ready to throw it at him if he moved toward her.

"Well, that's sure nice. Yep, I sure wouldn't want to disturb them if they're resting," she tried to sound soothing. "So hey, I'll pass the information on to the rest of my group. Um, can you tell me where this device is so that I can be sure to tell them to steer clear so they don't disturb you?" She didn't really think he would tell her anything, but she'd seen enough scary movies that she knew you should at least try to trick the villain into telling you something important so you could stop them.

"Oh, it's in the main control room in the basement. My family is resting there, waiting for me to join them." He smiled again and Lily felt if he smiled one more time she would start screaming and wouldn't be able to stop.

"Well, nice to know. I'll fill my friends in and thanks again for the heads up," Lily babbled as she backed away from him. "You take care now and it's been nice to talk to you," and she glanced anxiously around trying to think where those idiot men would be drinking.

"You're welcome. Are you ready to meet Jesus when he returns?" he said softly. Lily felt goosebumps go up all over her flesh and the back of her neck felt suddenly cold.

"Oh yes, we've had many talks about that and he and I have an understanding," she blurted out in a panic. The man nodded thoughtfully and turned to go back to his office. Lily sagged against a wall and watched him intently until he disappeared around a corner. "Christ on a carousel," she hissed to herself. She turned and headed down a corridor that seemed to be the one she'd walked down earlier that led to her room. As she jogged down the corridor she stopped in front of the closed doors and listened for any of the men.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

At the fourth door she heard a man's voice and as she raised her hand to knock on the door she heard what sounded like a slap and then someone crying. She shook her head. Could she not catch a damned break? This was probably that asshole guy beating on his wife. Well, she wasn't in the mood for any more bullshit. If he gave her any lip, he was getting a knife in his chest too.

Lily banged on the door loudly, "Hey, open up. I got to talk to you," she yelled.

"Go the fuck away," she heard a man yell. Well wasn't this just rich, she thought angrily.

"Look dammit, open the fucking door. I need to talk to you," she yelled louder.

She quickly stepped back as she heard someone stomping over to the door. To her right another door opened and one of the women she'd seen in the room with Shane earlier stuck her head out. Lily motioned at her to come over to her.

A man yanked the door open angrily and glared down at Lily. "What the fuck…oh you're the bitch that killed Shane earlier. What the hell are you doing bothering us? Haven't you been busy enough today?" he snapped and started to shut the door again. Lily lunged at the door and stuck her foot in the way. Ed slammed the door against her foot and she yelped and yanked her foot back. The other woman joined her and pushed the door open surprising the man into stepping back.

Lily hopped around cursing and glaring at the man. "Look, dammit, I just want to know where the fuck the other guys are. And you call me a bitch one more damned time and you're gonna get a knife chunked in your damn chest too, you asshole," she spat out. The man's mouth fell open and the woman who'd opened the door started to laugh.

"Shut the fuck up," the man yelled. Lily shook her head in disgust.

"Jesus Christ, will you shut up and just answer my damn question?" she yelled back.

"I don't know where the fuck they are," the man snarled. Lily looked around him to where a woman was standing-one of the women she remembered from the kitchen. She could see a red mark on the woman's cheek and a young girl peered from behind the woman and she could see the girl had been crying. Lily sighed.

"Hey there ma'am. You and your little girl come with me and this lady here. I need to find the rest of this group and I'm not about to leave you alone with this asshole here," and Lily pointed her knife at the man. "And really, I am not in the mood for anymore bullshit buddy, so you'd best keep your piehole shut," and Lily motioned for the women and girl to step over toward her. The man tried to prevent them from leaving and Lily pointed the knife at him again. "Dammit, I am not joking. Get the hell out of the way and let them come out in the hall with me. Or do you really want to see if I can nail you in the chest like I did that sorry asshole earlier today," and Lily began to flip the knife menacingly. The man stepped out of the way and the woman and girl hurried out the door and into the hall followed by the other woman. Lily backed out of the room keeping her knife aimed at the man and shut the door once she was out in the hall.

Sighing she turned to the woman who'd been laughing. "Thanks. Now, do either of you know where the men are?" Both women nodded and headed off down another corridor, Lily following them as well as glancing frequently behind her to make sure that jerk wasn't following them.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Lily and the two women and girl stopped in front of a door and Lily stepped forward to listen. She rolled her eyes. It sounded just like when the hands at the ranch had gotten finished with the shearing or branding and were getting drunk to celebrate. Everyone talking at once loudly and no one listening. She shook her head and flung the door open.

"Well hey there baby girl!" Merle shouted out and grinned. Lily gazed around the room and the men she'd heard called Glen and Tdog were sitting at a table with Merle, all looking the worse for wear. But where was Daryl? He wasn't anywhere in the room. She frowned. She looked over at Rick and saw with relief that he appeared to be sober, or at least more sober than the rest of the men were.

Lily walked over to Rick and sniffed. Well, he smelled like alcohol but maybe he'd spilled some on himself. "Hey, we have a problem. And where's Daryl?" she whispered, noting the other men had gone back to rambling drunkenly.

Rick frowned at her. "What kind of problem?"

Lily shook her head. "Look, not to be rude, but are you sober?" she hissed back at him.

Rick smirked. "Yeah, I'm sober. I had a shot earlier but I'm not big on drinking and I thought somebody should stay alert."

Lily nodded thankfully. "Great. Look, I ran into the idiot who was here by himself taking care of this place. He said he's blowing the place up tomorrow morning and that we need to be out of here before eight," she whispered to him.

Rick flinched in surprise and ran his hand over his face, sighing.

"Oh and as a bonus, the guy may have killed his family and stored them down in the basement where the controls are to blow this place up," Lily whispered again, glancing anxiously around the room and then back toward the door where the women and girl still stood. Rick groaned. "Yeah, that's the way I feel about it. Oh and by the way again, that lady over there has a man beating on her. I interrupted them when I was looking for you guys," Lily hissed angrily.

Rick groaned again and rubbed his face some more. "Jesus Christ," he mumbled. "Alright, let's go find Daryl and then we can figure out what to do," Rick whispered.

"There ya are, where the fuck did ya go to?" Daryl yelled angrily as he stomped into the room. Rick and Lily looked at each other and sighed.

"Is he sober?" Lily asked Rick. Rick nodded and Lily turned back to Daryl. "Be quiet and go back out into the hall and we'll follow you," she snapped in irritation at him. Daryl started to argue, but seeing the look on Lily's and Rick's face he shut his mouth and stomped back out into the hall.

Rick shut the door behind him and Daryl started pacing while the two women and girl looked on anxiously. "Daryl," Rick started and Daryl stopped and looked crossly at Lily. "Daryl, Lily saw Dr. Jenner and he told her," and here Rick glanced at the women and shrugged helplessly, "he told her he's blowing the place up in the morning," he finished tiredly. Both women gasped and the girl started to cry. Daryl shook his head in disbelief.

"What the hell are ya talkin' bout?" he growled.

"I went looking for you, and saw that guy, Jenner, in an office. And he told me that I should tell the group that they need to be out of here by eight in the morning because he's going to blow the place up. And I think he killed his family and has them somewhere in the basement. And he said they're waiting for him to join them in eternity. And he asked me if I was ready to meet Jesus," Lily babbled, relieved to have someone to tell this to that could also hopefully stop the maniac from killing all of them.

Daryl gaped at her then shook his head again. "What in the hell? He just blurted all that out to ya?" he asked incredulously.

"Well dammit he's fucking crazy so I guess he didn't really care who he was talking to," Lily snapped at him.

Daryl smirked a bit at how pissy Lily sounded. He'd been furious when he'd gone back to the room and found her gone. At least some good had come from her wandering the halls and being nosy-that idiot Jenner would have probably just blown the place up without ever warning them.

"Okay then. Did he tell ya where this bomb or whatever he calls it is?" Daryl asked as he started to pace again, restless and ready to spring into action.

"Someplace in the basement which is also where his family is apparently waiting on him to join them," Lily rasped and rolled her eyes in disgust and anger.

"Well, I guess we need to tie Jenner up and then go check the basement for this thing," Rick said.

The blonde raised her eyebrows at this and remained silent a minute. "Okay, Carol and I will go wake up the other women and kids and we'll get everyone gathered in the kitchen and start packing up some supplies just in case we do need to get out of here in a hurry," and she grabbed Carol's arm and pulled her along down a corridor to start knocking on doors.

"Rick and I'll go tie up this Jenner guy and then we'll go look down in the basement," Daryl announced and he started to head toward Jenner's office. Lily grabbed his arm roughly and he turned to glare at her.

"And just what am I supposed to do?" she hissed at him.

Daryl glanced at Rick hoping for some help with this. Seeing Rick remain silent, Daryl glared at him. "You stay here and make sure Merle and them don't leave the room and get up to any bullshit," he grumbled and started off again in the direction of Jenner's office. Lily snorted in disgust and stuck her tongue out at his back. Daryl glanced back and caught her and smirked before he jogged off toward Jenner's office.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Rick and Daryl jogged to Jenner's office and flung the door open, hoping to surprise him. The room was empty. They crossed the room and looked at the papers strewn all over his desk, trying to make sense of them. Daryl looked up at Rick and whistled softly. "Lily's right-this guy is crazy. Nothing on these papers makes any sense."

Rick nodded. "Yeah, I'm no scientist but this shit looks like he's been writing nonsense over and over." He rummaged through more of the papers and sighed in disgust. "Where do you think he went?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes and frowned, thinking. "I'd guess the basement. Hope he didn't decide to blow the place up sooner than he told Lily," and he headed out the door with Rick following closely.

They wandered various halls until they were able to find a stairwell that they hoped would lead to the basement. As they opened the door at the bottom of the stairwell they peered cautiously about before stepping out. They noticed a map on the opposite wall that showed where the control room was and hurried off in that direction. Pausing before the door, Rick and Daryl peered in through the windows in the door.

"Dammit to hell," Rick whispered. They pushed the doors open, surprised they weren't locked. Entering the room they immediately saw Jenner slumped over in a chair, his brains spilling out all over the top of the desk he was facedown on. And then they heard moaning and growling. They walked cautiously toward the noise and found what appeared to have at one time been Jenner's wife and two sons tied to some large control center. The figures were rapidly decomposing and rotting bits of flesh were dropping off them as they shuffled aimlessly, straining against the ropes they were tied with.

Rick and Daryl advanced carefully toward the control center, wary of any other surprises awaiting them. They quickly stabbed the three walkers in the face and then moved to check the control center. Unhappily they saw numbers flashing on one of the screens. "Looks like he may have already set the thing to blow up," Rick mumbled as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at.

Daryl looked around for anything that could help them understand what they were looking at. Giving up, he looked over Rick's shoulder at the changing numbers. "How much time do ya think we have?" Daryl mumbled.

Rick shook his head. "No idea," he mumbled back. "Looks like it's counting down hours though. What time is it now?" and he looked around for a clock. Daryl spotted one on a far wall.

"If that clock's right, it's midnight," he rasped.

Rick nodded thoughtfully. "Well, this thing looks like it's set for eight o'clock in the morning then judging from the hours it's showing it's counting down to." He paused and looked around carefully for some way to stop the countdown.

"In the movies they always snip some wires to stop the bomb," Daryl offered hopefully. "You're a cop, didn't ya ever have ta do something like that?"

Rick snorted in disgust. "No, I was just a small time county sheriff. Never had any training for anything like this shit," and he grimaced at the thought of how much training like that would have come in handy now.

"Well then, we need to get the fuck outta here," Daryl muttered angrily and turned to head back toward the upper levels.

"Okay then. Where do you think we should go when we leave here?" Rick asked to Daryl's surprise. No one ever asked his opinion. Then he thought of what Lily had said.

"We should go north. Or out west. Into some mountains. Bet the cold will slow these things down. And they might have a harder time stumbling around in a hilly area or in the mountains," Daryl said thoughtfully.

Rick nodded in agreement. "Let's get everyone out of here and find a place to set up until we can map out where we want to head," and he clapped Daryl on the back and they headed back toward the upper level.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The next four hours were spent frantically packing supplies and necessities into the caravan of vehicles the group had parked outside. Andrea and Amy, Lori and Carl, Carol and Sophia, Dale and Martinez and his family along with Rick and Daryl tried to strip every last item they thought might come in handy and pack it into their vehicles. Lily was left to monitor Merle, Tdog, and Glen as they slowly began to pass out one by one in the room where they'd been drinking. Carol's husband Ed had been warned by both Rick and Daryl to not lay a hand on his wife and child and that they expected him to pull his own weight with the group.

At last Rick and Daryl walked the drunken men outside and strapped them into seats in the RV. Dale and Andrea had volunteered to babysit the men. Rick and Daryl then went through the area they had stayed in one last time to be sure they weren't leaving anything they might need. Rick had found maps in an office that seemed to identify areas that were to be used as safe zones in the event of a catastrophic emergency. Rick and Daryl had snorted at the maps-so far they had seen just how safe Atlanta had been, they weren't counting on finding any other place that would be safe. Best to take the maps and plot a route that would take them to a less populated area in the mountains or hills somewhere north of here.

After ascertaining nothing useful had been left behind, Rick and Daryl stepped out into the parking lot to survey the caravan. Dale, Andrea, Merle, Glen and Tdog were in the RV. Ed, Carol and their girl was in their truck. Martinez and his family were in their vehicle. Amy and Jacqui were riding with Rick, Lori and Carl. They had loaded Merle's bike into Daryl's truck after transferring some of their belongings to Rick's truck. Lily sat in Daryl's truck waiting on him. It was now close to five o'clock and they wanted to be well away from this place when it blew up. Rick and Daryl each had a map with the route drawn out on it-they would head north into the mountains of Tennessee and travel the older roads to avoid the more populated areas. Rick was heading up the caravan, Daryl would be in the rear. Daryl thought briefly about taking Merle's bike and riding ahead, but that would leave Lily driving by herself and he had seen how frayed her nerves were when he'd sent her to sit in the truck. He didn't trust her to drive by herself right now, so he'd drive the truck and guard the rear.

Rick and Daryl had also made sure each vehicle had adequate weapons and ammo in case of separation or ambush by anyone. Rick turned to Daryl and shook his hand. "Be safe brother," Rick mumbled, glad that he had Daryl to help him out with this. Daryl nodded and strode off to his truck, anxious to take off and get away from here. Rick headed to his truck and climbed in, handing Lori the map so she could navigate.

"Where are we headed?" Jacqui asked from the back seat.

Rick half turned to look at her. "Going towards Chattanooga. It's just a couple of hours from here, depending on how the roads are. We figure if we take the old highways and stay off the main roads we might be able to avoid the traffic jams we've seen so far." Jacqui nodded quietly at this and Rick put the truck into gear and they headed off.

Daryl tapped his hands impatiently on the steering wheel as he waited for the cars to head out so he could follow. He absentmindedly patted his shirt for a pack of cigarettes and frowned. Lily glanced at him and flipped open the glove box and retrieved a pack of cigarettes and lighter. "Found these and set them back thinking you might need them," she said as she handed the pack to him.

Daryl nodded and immediately patted a cigarette out and lit it, taking a deep drag of it before slowly exhaling. Lily took the pack and shook out a cigarette and Daryl glanced curiously at her. She stuck the cigarette in her mouth and grabbed the lighter out of his hand and lit the cigarette. Daryl watched in amusement as she inhaled and immediately began sputtering and coughing.

"Don't think smokin' is yer thing there," he said teasingly as he snatched the cigarette out of her hand and held it away from her. Lily glared at him and continued to cough. "Best stick to ropin' and trick ridin' and throwin' knives Annie," he mumbled at her and put the truck into gear to start following the other cars out of the lot.

Lily huffed and crossed her arms over her chest and glared out the window in silence. Daryl glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He felt like a jerk for how he'd acted last night. He was steadily digging himself a hole where she was concerned. If he kept up like this, she would run off with the first half decent guy they met-if they met anybody else along their route.

Daryl shifted restlessly in his seat and pondered what he could say to get back in her good graces. Everything he thought about saying he discarded as too sappy or too stupid to utter aloud. He fidgeted as he smoked and Lily finally turned to glare at him.

"What? What's wrong now? You wishing I was riding in some other car?" she snapped at him.

Daryl shook his head, wondering how in the world to answer her without sounding like a complete idiot. "No, not at all Lily. Just restless I guess," and he finished one cigarette and started on the other. Daryl sighed softly. He cleared his throat. "Lily, I'm sorry bout last night. I'm not good at that kind of thing," he began.

Lily whirled to look at him. "What do you mean that kind of thing? We were kissing! You can't tell me you haven't ever kissed a girl before," she spat out.

Daryl rolled his eyes and gripped the steering wheel, not happy about having this conversation at all, much less while driving. "Yes dammit, I've kissed chicks before. It's just….I haven't ever been serious or steady with anyone. And I don't want to start up with you and then have you run off with somebody else." He tossed the cigarette out the window and began to tear at the skin of his thumb with his teeth.

Lily's mouth dropped open and she flushed in anger. "That's what you think of me? That I'll screw around with you and then just run off with any random guy that shows up?" her voice was getting louder and she knew when she got really angry sometimes her voice got squeaky and she sounded like Minnie Mouse. It made her even madder when that happened. That and then she would cry which really made her mad.

Daryl cleared his throat and tried to calm himself, but he was getting angry himself now. "No dammit, I don't think that's what you'll do. I'm just trying to be sure that you're sure you want to be with me before we do anything serious."

Lily stared at him in bewilderment. "For pete's sake, we might be the only people left alive in the world. We may not have any future past tomorrow or today! Why worry about all that?" She wiped at her face angrily, furious that now she was crying.

"I ain't gonna talk bout this right now! Just leave it the hell alone!" he yelled in frustration and then punched the dashboard violently. Lily jumped and yelped and then turned to stare angrily out the window.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

They rode in silence a while, both of them sneaking glances at the other and then pretending to look out the window at the scenery. The roads Rick and Daryl had picked were fairly clear, only occasional pockets of abandoned vehicles and then there was plenty of room to maneuver their caravan around them.

Lily cleared her throat softly and began to speak quietly. "I was sixteen when I met Jack. He was twenty-four. My pop hired him to work on the ranch that summer," and she glanced over to Daryl to see if he was listening. "My pop had a rule that none of us were to bother the hands. But I never paid attention to that, I'd always snuck to the bunkhouses and listened to the hands stories bout different ranches they'd worked and they'd teach me rope tricks and stuff." She paused a moment to let him absorb this. "Anyway, I guess I was the age when the hands looked more interesting as boyfriends than as folks to tell me stories and show me riding and roping tricks. And Jack knew all the tricks to get a young dumb girl to fall for him. He knew how to sweet talk me, gave me little presents like flowers he'd picked up in the fields and stuff like that." Lily sighed, a slight smile on her face at the memory of that summer. Daryl frowned, wondering why she was telling him all this.

"Well, that fall when pop announced who he'd be keeping on and who'd be let go for the winter, Jack saw he was getting let go. And he talked me into running away with him." Daryl glanced sharply at her. "I was crazy about him so I said yes and one Friday night I snuck off with him to some justice of the peace he said he knew that would overlook the fact that I was just sixteen." Here she frowned and shook her head ruefully.

"So you and Jack were married?" Daryl asked finally.

"Yep. He thought if he married me that pop would hire him full time and that he'd have it made being married to the rancher's daughter." Daryl nodded at her to continue. "He misjudged my pop. Mother and Pop were furious when they found me missing, and when Jack and I drove up to the house that next Monday Pop beat the hell outta Jack. He wanted to throw Jack in jail, but when he saw the wedding papers he told me to get."

Daryl glanced over at her. "What?"

Lily sniffed. "Told us to get. I had shamed him. He said that if I'd stayed away from the hands like he'd told me I wouldn't be in this mess." Lily sighed again at the memory.

"Yer daddy threw ya out?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Told us we weren't welcome there no more. Told me what I'd taken with me when I snuck out was all I'd get from him. He disowned me."

Daryl shifted uneasily in his seat. "But….," he began, then fell silent.

"I kept my maiden name because I knew it would make my Pop mad and that was the only way I could hurt him. I didn't finish high school either. And I've spent the last six years wandering around with a man who didn't really love me because I was too proud to admit what a fool I'd been and still was. And I had nowhere else to go." She turned to look at him and he saw tears running down her face. "I'm telling you all this because when I met you and Merle I'd already made my mind up that at the end of the summer I would have enough money to leave Jack and try and live on my own. I was hiding money as best I could because Jack was drinking up whatever he made and he wasn't making much because of his drinking. And popping pills." She wiped her face and smiled a sad smile at him. "When I met you I saw someone who was everything Jack wasn't. You're honest, and can take care of yourself. You weren't drinking all the time and popping pills and laying around waiting for somebody else to take care of you. I was ready to leave Jack and ask you if I could stay with you that night Shane stopped us." Lily sighed again.

Daryl shook his head in amazement as he stared out the window at the car ahead of him, willing himself not to look at her.

"I almost didn't get the chance to ever see you again. And we don't know what's going to happen now from day to day. I wasted six years with someone who made me unhappy. I don't want to waste whatever time I have left being unhappy. I want to be with you. And it wouldn't matter how many men we run into from now on, I don't want to be with anyone but you," Lily said softly.

Daryl stopped suddenly as he noticed the car ahead of him had stopped. He turned to Lily, a serious look on his face. His eyes ran over her face, considering what she'd told him. He had always been a good judge of people and he'd felt from the moment that he'd met Lily that she was a good person, that she was the rare person who would not lie, would not play games with him or take pleasure in hurting his feelings. He'd never felt that she thought of him the way he thought of himself-as trash, dirty and worthless and nobody to be taken seriously.

"Okay. Let me see what's going on up ahead. And when we camp somewhere tonight, maybe we can start over." He gazed solemnly at her, biting his lip nervously. Lily nodded and smiled, her cheeks slightly pink. "Stay here for now, keep yer gun handy and I'll be back in a minute," Daryl continued. Lily watched as he got out of the truck and headed up the line of cars with his bow and gun. She locked the door after him and gazed anxiously out the window.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

After a short wait, Daryl reappeared striding rapidly to the truck. Lily reached over and unlocked the door for him and he climbed back in. "We should be near Chattanooga in a little bit. Rick and I looked at the map and found what looked like some lake to the east of the city. We're gonna take the road that heads that way and hope we can find some cabins or houses or something that we can camp out in for the day to rest up and figure out what to do next. Merle's raising hell up in the RV, and Tdog and Glen are feeling kinda poorly," and Daryl snickered at the thought of the men's hangovers.

Lily nodded and slid over to sit closer to Daryl as he put the truck into gear and started off again. Daryl tentatively placed his arm around her shoulders and she slid closer to him. He'd never ridden in a vehicle with his arm around a girl. Hell he'd never had a girlfriend, not in high school or since. The women he'd hooked up with from the bars were never brought to wherever he was staying. Business was usually done in their car or his truck in the parking lot or on some country road. It was usually quick, they were drunk and so was he and the whole thing left him feeling dirty and unsatisfied. If Merle was in jail he usually stayed away from the bars and spent his time away from whatever job he'd landed alone in whatever shithole he'd rented.

He sighed and rubbed his hand on her shoulder absentmindedly-unconsciously his body relaxed somewhat from its usual tense posture.

They travelled in comfortable silence for another half hour or so until the caravan pulled into the lot of what appeared to be an old motor court. Rick's truck circled around to face outward on one side of the parking lot and Daryl maneuvered his truck so that he was facing outward parallel to Rick's truck. Rick stepped out cautiously and Daryl followed suit. They met in the middle of the lot between the vehicles and talked quietly for a few minutes. Then they headed to the other vehicles and spoke to the other men. After a few minutes all the men started to check the various cabins and office for any survivors or walkers. Lily watched anxiously, noting that the motor court seemed to have been long abandoned before the shit had hit the fan.

There were eight rooms down each side flanking the parking lot, with what looked like was once the offices joining the two long sections of rooms. There was a covered walkway down the front of each section of rooms. More than enough rooms for the group, if the rooms were in decent shape and weren't too disgusting and dilapidated. Lily held her breath, hoping the rooms would be safe to camp in until they got their bearings.

At last Rick and the other men came out and gathered in the center of the court and the vehicles and talked a bit more. Finally the men headed to the various vehicles in the caravan and Lily saw the women and kids getting out of the vehicles and head to the rooms closest to Rick's vehicle. Daryl came over to the truck and opened the door. "C'mon. Place looks like it was abandoned before shit happened. No one around, rooms look okay-a little dusty and stuffy but they'll be okay for now. We're all going to stay over on that side –the rooms look better than these others. We can take some of our stuff in now and get set up to stay for a day or two."

Lily slid over to the door where Daryl stood and hopped out carefully, avoiding the chunks of gravel in the lot. Daryl frowned at her bare feet. "We need ta find some boots or something girl," he muttered and then swung her up in his arms and carried her over to the covered walkway where the rest of the group was wandering about deciding which rooms they wanted. Setting her down, Daryl opened the door of the room next to where Lori and Rick were going in and out. "Go on in and check it out while I get some stuff outta the truck. Merle'll probly wanna unload his bike too," and Daryl turned to go back to the truck.

Lily opened the door and peeked in. It wasn't too disgusting-one double bed in the center of the room with night tables on either side, a dresser, a door to what was probably the bathroom. There was a light film of dust over everything and the room was incredibly stuffy. She crossed to the window and tried to open it to air the room out. Daryl came back in with a duffel bag and seeing her struggling at the window he crossed over and after banging on the frame a bit finally shoved the window wide open. He turned and went back out again, leaving Lily to nose around in the bathroom and open and shut drawers in the tables and dresser.

Midmorning the group had arranged the rooms they had claimed and a watch schedule had been set up between the men. It was decided that Merle, Tdog and Glen along with Dale would take the first watch and the rest of the group would try to get some rest as most of the others had spent the night packing and scavenging for items they'd need.

Daryl entered the room he'd picked for he and Lily to find fresh sheets they'd scavenged from the CDC on the bed and a flashlight on the night table. Lily had gotten a jug of water from the supplies and placed it in the bathroom with another flashlight so they could clean up a little in the sink. Daryl noted she was already stretched out on the bed, barely awake. He stretched out beside her, lying on his back and lit a cigarette. There was a nice breeze blowing through the window and he sighed, thankful that the air was cooler already up here near Chattanooga and the mountains.

"Gonna take the night watch with Rick," he said quietly. "If yer scared to stay in here by yerself, ya can stay with Lori and Carl or with Andrea and Amy," he added.

Lily rolled over to face him, lying on her side. "I don't really want to be around Lori after what happened, and I don't know those other girls enough to want to stay with them," she said softly.

Daryl winced at having suggested she stay with Lori. "kay, I'll keep checking on ya," he said as he lazily blew out smoke rings.

Lily laid her hand on his arm tentatively. Daryl made himself stay still so she wouldn't move her hand away. "Can I lay by you?" she whispered. He grunted and moved his arm so she could slide over next to him and then he draped his arm around her, pulling her closer.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Evening came and Daryl, Rick, Ed and Martinez readied themselves to take the night shift watch. Merle had offered to stay with Lily in the room while Daryl took the watch and Daryl had reluctantly agreed hoping that Merle would be too worn out from the hangover and the watch to cause much trouble.

Merle settled down on the bed and Lily pulled a chair up close so she could stretch out her legs and got comfortable. Merle was smoking and looked over at Lily contemplatively. "So you and baby brother get things ironed out?" he at last rasped.

Lily looked over at him and smiled slightly. "I think we're trying to. Why?"

Merle shrugged. "If ya repeat any of this I'll deny it," he said gruffly, pointing at her. Lily nodded and stayed silent. "I may seem rough with my brother to some folks, but he and I are the only ones left of our family. And I want him ta be happy-at least as happy as someone can be now." He paused and took a deep drag from the cigarette, slowly blowing out smoke rings, then smirked at Lily. "Baby brother don't take ta anybody really-always been on the shy side, don't talk much. Tends to push folks away, doesn't really trust anyone but me and we have our moments." Merle chuckled softly, remembering the various disagreements he and Daryl had had. "But I saw right away when we met y'all that Daryl was lookin' at ya different than he usually looked at anyone. I was plain shocked when he took ya to the rodeo and watched yer shows then brought ya home. He don't like crowds, don't like waiting on anything or anyone." Merle watched Lily's face as she absorbed all this. "I know he's rough round the edges-hell we both are. But I guarantee ya that if y'all decide ya wanna be together he'll be true to ya, never hurt ya and he'll protect ya til his last breath." He waited silently for Lily to think this over.

"Thanks Merle," Lily said softly to him. He nodded and went back to smoking.

"And Lily if ya break his heart, ya won't have ta worry about a walker gettin' ya. Because I will," Merle said softly and Lily shivered a bit at the coldness in his voice. Merle looked at her silently and she could see that he was deadly serious. She nodded silently and he stubbed his cigarette out and turned his back to her and fell asleep leaving Lily to her thoughts.

As the sun rose, Daryl re-entered the room to find both Lily and Merle asleep on the bed –Merle on his back and Lily on her side facing away from him but both bodies touching. Daryl cleared his throat and Merle's eyes opened instantly.

"Rick wants a couple of us to go explorin'," Daryl whispered. Merle nodded and hopped off the bed and headed to the bathroom. Daryl sat down in the chair by the bed and watched Lily sleep. She looked so sweet lying there, and so young. If he didn't know her age he would've guessed she was no more than sixteen or so. He'd be glad when they finally found someplace safe so the two of them could have some time alone.

Merle came out and stretched. "Let's go," he snapped impatiently. Daryl nodded and they walked out the door, shutting it softly so as not to disturb Lily.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Lily woke to the sun bright in the sky a cool breeze blowing in the window. She groaned and rolled out of the bed, stretching. Her throat was dry and her stomach rumbled.

After stepping into the bathroom to clean up a bit, she stepped out onto the covered porch to find Lori and Carl sitting in some chairs along with Andrea, Amy, Carol and Sophia. "Where is everyone?" Lily asked hesitantly.

Andrea smiled up at her warmly and patted the chair next to her. "Hey Lily! C'mon and sit with us. We saved a plate for you," and she looked to Amy who rose and went into a room to retrieve the plate.

Lily sat in the chair and looked around curiously. All the women there were smiling at her. Carol blushed a bit and nodded at Lily. "I want to thank you for the other night," she said softly. Lily blushed in turn and shrugged slightly. "No really, thank you. No one's ever stood up to Ed like that for me and Sophia. You're a brave young woman," and Carol wiped at a tear on her cheek.

Amy handed Lily the plate and sat down again beside Andrea. "Carol's right. You're a brave girl, Lily, and we're lucky to have you in our group," Andrea said, looking around at the other women. "We're hoping that you decide to stay with us." And at this the other women nodded.

Lily looked shyly over at Lori, feeling incredibly awkward. Lori blushed beet red and bit her lip. "Yeah, Lily. Shane," and here Lori stammered over the name, "Shane fooled all of us and especially me. I've known him as long as I've known Rick, from high school, and I never would have guessed he could act like he did," and she stammered to silence.

Lily raised her brows at this in surprise. Either Shane had just gone completely nuts or had a really dark side to him that no one had ever seen. She couldn't believe a normal person would just suddenly do the things to her and Rick and Lori without ever having shown signs of such evil before.

She cleared her throat and Sophia handed her a soda. She smiled at the girl and thanked her. She felt uncomfortable –she'd never had many girlfriends and sure hadn't had any since she'd run off with Jack all those years ago. Jack had insisted that they spend time with just his friends and had been possessive and jealous of any time she'd spent with anyone other than him. It had been less trouble to just keep to herself and shun any offers to hang out with any of the women they'd met through his friends or at shows.

She smiled tentatively again at the women. "Where's everyone else gone to?" she mumbled as she began to wolf down the canned ravioli and bread they'd given her.

Andrea seemed to have appointed herself the spokesperson of the other women. "Well, Rick and Glen and Merle and Daryl have gone off to explore what's around here. Dale and Martinez and Ed are keeping watch. And Jacqui and Mrs. Martinez-Marilyn- are keeping an eye on the Martinez kids in their room. The kids are younger and they were up most of the night with bad dreams and crying."

Lily nodded. "I'm surprised we all aren't having trouble sleeping," she mumbled.

Andrea began to ask Lily questions about where'd she grown up and how she'd met the Dixons. Lily told them about Jack and her being in the rodeo and that they'd met the Dixons at one of the rodeo shows and they had been nice enough to take care of her after Rick had found her. Lily noticed Lori again blushing furiously and fidgeting in her chair even though Lily had left out any mention of Shane or his doings. Her mention of being a rider in the rodeo got Carl's and Sophia's interest and she spent some time regaling the group with rodeo stories as well as promising to show them some roping tricks when they got somewhere safer.

Midafternoon the men came back to the motor court. Lori ran over to Rick eagerly and Merle, Daryl and Glen ambled on over to the rest of the women. Merle winked at Lily and she looked at Daryl questioningly. He nodded to Glen and looking at Glen Lily saw he was blushing and smiling happily. She raised her brows in question and Merle snickered. Glen leaned against a column ignoring Merle.

"Found a nice little farm a couple hours up the way," Merle announced gleefully. "Annie, they got horses there ya can ride." Lily shot a look at Daryl and he nodded, smirking at the look of happiness on Lily's face.

"Yeah, it's set off the road a ways. Sits on a hill and the yard slopes down to a lake. The main house is a huge cabin. Family's lived there for generations 'cording to the old man. He's a veterinarian and he has some horses and dogs and cats, chickens and some goats. Coupla cows for milking," Daryl told Lily.

Andrea and Amy smiled at the news. "So a family lives there?" Andrea asked.

Merle nodded and jerked his thumb over at Glen. "Yeah, somebody is already sweet on the oldest daughter," and Glen blushed again but didn't deny it.

Andrea laughed. "So who else is there?"

Merle grinned. "Old man and his wife, two girls-one bout Carl's age and the other bout Chinaman here's age," and he snickered again.

"They're all alone there?" Carol asked anxiously.

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, their farmhands disappeared one day going to town. Haven't seen or heard from 'em since. The old man has a HAM radio and he kept in contact with someplace until bout two weeks ago. Hasn't been able to talk to anyone since."

"Is it safe?" Amy asked nervously.

"Yes, it looks like it could be," Rick answered as he walked up with Lori. "Herschel, the man who owns the farm, said we would be welcome to move our stuff there and we could live in the bigger barn-it's actually been converted to a guest house of some kind and then there's a smaller barn for the cows and horses and such. He just asked that we help out with any work that needs to be done. They've got a large garden, an orchard and there's fish in the lake. He said there's good hunting there too."

Daryl nodded at this. "And there's just one road that leads to the house, and it can be blocked off easily. It goes over a stream, so we can block off the bridge and have someone watch it. The buildings sit up on a hill so ya got a clear view all around ya, and then there's the woods on one side and the lake on the other."

Merle blew out a smoke ring. "Old man said they hadn't seen any walkers up that way, and no one else either. He said they never did get bothered much before all of this because they're so outta the way. Said we could come up now and get settled in if we wanted." And at this he grinned again and puffed out another smoke ring.

Everyone started talking at once excitedly and it was decided they should pack up immediately and go to the farm to get settled in before nightfall.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Late afternoon found the group parked in the field by the farm's largest barn, busily taking supplies out of the various vehicles and carrying them in. Herschel and his wife, Anna, along with his two daughters-Maggie and Beth-had come over to help get the group settled. Herschel had welcomed the idea of the group living with them-he knew if trouble came in the form of walkers or some violent group he would never be able to protect his women. Knowing that Rick had been a sheriff and that the Dixon brothers knew how to hunt and track had made him feel that his women would be better protected with them around.

Daryl had shooed Lily off to the pasture where the Greene family had four horses. Maggie had offered Lily her spare pair of riding boots and Lily had eagerly trotted off toward the pasture-Maggie, Beth, Carl and Sophia following. Maggie got some rope out and watched as Lily showed the kids some basic rope tricks. Then Lily hopped bareback on one of the horses and trotted it around the pasture to get it used to her. As the kids watched, she did some basic riding tricks consisting mostly of hopping on and off different ways.

As the rest of the group got their belongings settled they had wandered over to watch Lily and now Maggie riding the horses with Lily showing Maggie some beginner tricks. Glen leaned against the fence, a goofy smile on his face as he watched Maggie. Herschel and Anna rolled their eyes at Glen-their daughter Maggie had always had boys following after her like puppy dogs and the last few weeks of being cut off from the outside world had left Maggie irritable and fidgety. They hoped Glen would prove to be a nice young man that Maggie could get along with.

Herschel had opened his cellar and pantry to the group, and Daryl had gone off and brought back some rabbits and squirrels so Carol, Jacqui and Marilyn had rigged up a pot of stew over a fire in the firepit Herschel had in his back yard. He had explained that his family had spent nice evenings by the fire, enjoying the quiet summer nights. Andrea waved at Maggie and Lily to come eat and the group headed over to the fire pit. Glen lingered by the fence waiting for Maggie and Daryl joined him to wait for Lily.

"Seen ya got a friend now," he mumbled softly to Lily as they walked toward the group. Lily glanced over to Maggie walking with Glen.

"Yeah, she seems nice," Lily whispered. "Been a long time since I had a girlfriend to talk to," she added wistfully. Daryl nodded. He felt they were all extremely lucky to have stumbled onto this farm and this family. The Greenes seemed like nice folks, and the farm seemed pretty safe. Rick and the other men had worked out a watch schedule again and they'd discussed some preventive safety measures for the perimeters to further ensure their safety. With the woods and the lake they could stay well stocked for food and of course the family had that large garden. All in all he felt a lot more at ease here than he'd felt anywhere else the last few weeks. But being a Dixon meant you didn't ever fully trust the situation you were in and you didn't ever truly let your guard down.

As the group relaxed around the campfire after eating and told stories of their lives before the virus had hit, Maggie leaned over to Lily and whispered to her. Lily had nodded eagerly and leaned over to Daryl.

"Maggie says we should go swimming in the lake," she whispered softly to Daryl. Daryl looked over to Maggie and Glen and saw they were getting up to set off toward the lake.

"Who else is goin'" he whispered back. Lily smiled up at him and winked.

"Just us, c'mon" she whispered back and hopped up, pulling on his arm. Daryl sighed and got up and followed her behind Maggie and Glen. The sun was low in the sky but he knew it wouldn't be full dark for another hour or so. He glanced behind him to see if anyone was watching them only to see Merle wink at him and then he and turned back to the others by the fire. Daryl hummed in aggravation at the thought of all the teasing he'd be getting from Merle later.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The water was deliciously cool against his skin and he was glad after all that Lily had coaxed him in with her. Maggie and Glen were whispering and bobbing in the water a bit away from them. She, Glen and Lily had quickly stripped off their clothes and waded into the cold water without hesitation, squealing and hollering at the chill of it. They weren't skinny dipping though, the girls had left their underclothes on as had Glen. Daryl had hesitated at the water's edge. He was loathe to shuck his clothes off in front of anyone much less pretty much complete strangers like Maggie and Glen.

After some whining from Lily he'd finally shucked off his boots and pants but remained adamant about leaving his shirt on. Lily still didn't know about the scars criss crossing his back nor how they had gotten there and he wasn't yet comfortable with telling her. She had tried to pull his shirt up and he'd grabbed her wrist roughly automatically and glared at her. She'd left the shirt alone after that but hadn't asked any questions, just murmured an apology.

There had been an awkward few moments after that, but when he'd realized Lily wasn't going to pester him about it he'd relaxed a bit and pulled her over to him. She had wrapped her legs around his waist to anchor herself and floated on her back in front of him. He had his hands on her hips and absentmindedly rubbed his thumbs slowly over her hipbones as he watched her float. He noticed that Maggie and Glen had gone off quite a ways and in the fading light he could see enough to know they were busy doing something other than swimming. He smirked-that Maggie had pounced right on Glen and Glen had been happy to let her do so.

Lily sat up, her legs still wrapped around Daryl's waist and his hands moved to support her back as she leaned up into his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against him. He in turn wrapped his arms around her back and held her closer. He lightly brushed the top of her head with his lips, nervous and unsure of her and himself. It wasn't enough that he'd never had to deal with the end of the world and daily survival, but now he also had to learn how to live with Lily. He had no experience with day to day living with a woman and it would have been nerve wracking to him under normal circumstances, much less in the situation they now found themselves in.

Lily lay quietly against Daryl, listening to his heart beat and absorbing his smell- a combination of cigarette smoke, leather and sweat and pine and grass from the woods as well as smoke from the campfire. It was a comforting smell.

He was thinking about kissing her on the mouth and had just put his hands on either side of her face to pull her to him when Merle's voice made him jump.

"Well hell, y'alls havin' a swimmin' party and didn't invite us," he yelped and they heard Andrea laugh.

Daryl immediately tensed up and yanked his hands from Lily's face. She unwrapped her legs and stood up beside Daryl, feeling like a kid caught by her parents. Merle snickered at the two of them.

"Blondie here and I thought we'd join ya, if it isn't a private party," Merle teased and then looked about for Maggie and Glen. When he caught sight of them he raised his eyebrows and looked over at Daryl and Lily smirking. Daryl sighed and crossed his arms over his chest in irritation. "C'mon girl, let's join the party," Merle said to Andrea as he quickly stripped off his pants and shirt and waded into the cold water. He whistled and yelped as the water hit him. Andrea hurriedly pulled her outer clothes off and waded in behind him, yelping as the water hit her. She swam over to Merle and he laughed at the sight of what the cold water had brought to attention on her. Lily vaguely saw what looked like scarring on Merle's back and frowned.

"Merle, what happened?" she blurted out. Daryl immediately stiffened and glared in Merle's direction. Merle had never had any second thoughts about shedding his shirts. He'd been in the Army four years and often said that experience stripped you of all modesty about your body.

Merle turned to face her and Andrea ran her hand lightly over his back, murmuring. "Aw hell, my daddy used ta beat me and baby brother when he was drunk. Our momma too. Ain't nothin' ta hide. Happened long time ago and the sorry asshole's dead now for a while." He turned back around to Andrea and grabbed her hand playfully. "I know a better place for that hand to rub on, Blondie," he teased and Andrea splashed him and laughed.

Lily looked over at Daryl thoughtfully. He wouldn't look at her and was walking toward the bank where he'd left his pants.

"Aw now, don't go Darylina. The party's just startin'" Merle called to Daryl teasingly. Daryl shrugged and got out of the water and began to yank his pants on. Lily looked over at Merle and then back at Daryl. Merle caught her gaze and nodded toward Daryl and motioned to Lily to follow him. She nodded and scrambled to get out and follow Daryl as he stalked off toward the larger barn.

"Wait for me," she yelped as she grabbed her clothes and boots and trotted after him. He stopped long enough for her to catch up and then began to rapidly stalk toward the barn again. Lily ran after him and tried to keep up.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Entering the barn, Daryl stomped off toward the stairs. The ground floor of the barn had been converted into a living area, kitchen, bath and two bedrooms. Upstairs the loft area held five more bedrooms and another bathroom. Daryl had picked a bedroom upstairs for he and Lily and moved their stuff into it. The bedrooms were on the small side but no one was complaining-they had real beds with clean linens and the windows let in the cool night air. The toilets flushed and the showers and sinks had running water due to Herschel's forethought in installing self-sustaining systems so he could live entirely independently from anyone.

In their room Daryl paused to wait on Lily before he slammed the door shut and lit a cigarette before beginning to pace angrily about the floor. Lily dropped her clothes and boots to the floor and sat cross legged on the bed, watching Daryl quietly.

He stopped and faced her, his eyes narrowed and his face flushed. "Don't like ta talk bout my growin' up, but now that Merle's blurted it out I reckon I need ta tell ya some of it," he said tersely. Lily nodded, keeping her mouth closed. "m dad was a drunk. Mean one. Beat on my ma, Merle and then me when he got ta drinkin'. Which after a while was pretty much ever night. My ma died when I was eight-burnt up in a house fire she started her own self cuz she was drunk and smokin'". Lily winced at that. Daryl blew out a smoke ring and took another deep drag off the cigarette. "Anyway, me and Merle both got scars from the beatin's. Don't like fer anyone ta see mine. Merle don't care. That's why I didn't want ya ta take my shirt off. That's why I don't like no one touchin' me, specially my back." He paused again and began to pace again. "We're trash. I know it. Ain't nothing good bout us. Never has been. I ain't nothin' anyone would want. Got nothin' ta offer anyone, not even before all this shit happened. Cain't figger out for the life a me why ya thought ya'd wanna leave Jack and be with me." He shook his head in bewilderment. "I won't hold ya to anythin' ya said. If ya wanna be on yer own or with someone else I won't fight ya. I ain't no good Lily." And he stubbed the cigarette out angrily with his boot.

Lily jumped off the bed and grabbed his hands. "Who gave you the idea that you're no good? Some drunk who was supposed to love and protect you. That's on them, not you." She reached up her hand to touch his cheek and he looked sadly at her. "My family disowned me, do you think I'm trash?" Daryl shook his head silently. "Then why would I think you're no good cuz your dad beat you?" She paused and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "None of those folks are around now. We can be whoever we want to be now. No one here is going to judge us cuz they don't know our past and we don't know theirs. Everyone gets to start over brand new. That includes you Daryl."

Daryl closed his eyes and sighed. He wanted to believe her, he really did, but twenty-five years of beatings and verbal abuse and the looks of people he'd come across in various towns he and Merle had lived in had left him with no self –esteem whatsoever. Lily shivered, her hair still wet from the lake. Daryl looked at her, seeing her shiver again. She hadn't had time to pull her clothes on, all she had on was her wet underthings. And his shirt and boxers were soaked. He crossed the room and dug around in his duffel bag.

He tossed a tshirt of his to her and some panties. "Yer freezin'. Put some dry things on. I'll find ya a towel for yer hair," and he stepped out of the room and toward the bathroom. Lily quickly shed her wet clothes and pulled the dry ones on. Daryl came back with a towel and left again to go change in the bathroom.

Coming back in the room, he saw Lily had wrapped her hair up in the towel he'd brought her. Lily pulled his hand and led him to the bed and they lay down together. Moonlight streamed through the window enough for them to barely see each other. Daryl lay on his back and Lily lay beside him, on her side, her arm on his chest. He moved a light blanket up and drew it over them both. The breeze from the window was cool and he felt goosebumps on the both of them. Lily put her hand on his cheek and felt his skin was damp. Her heart turned over in her chest at the thought of all he and his brother had been through. She lay quietly, listening to his breathing deepen and she closed her eyes.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The next few weeks the group settled in and gradually a routine was established. The Dixon brothers hunted in the woods, Andrea and Amy fished in the lake, the kids were assigned chores such as weeding the gardens and feeding the livestock. Watch schedules were drawn up. The women of the group pitched in with the cooking and cleaning for both the Greenes and their own group. The men had kept a close eye on Ed to ensure he didn't mistreat Carol or Sophia again, although Daryl and Merle had their doubts he'd stopped all his abuse.

Lily was walking to the pasture to take care of the horses one morning when she saw Lori speaking to Maggie a short walk from the larger barn. Lori seemed to be upset. Lily turned away and continued on to the pasture. Lori had attempted to be friendly to her but Lily still couldn't get over the idea of Lori and Shane being together so soon after Lori had thought Rick was dead. The very thought of the man turned her stomach and she give Rick all the credit in the world for trying to put that behind him and trying to make his marriage work.

As she was brushing one of the horses, she saw both Lori and Maggie walking her way. She stopped brushing and waited for them to come closer.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked. She felt there had to be something wrong for both of them to approach her like this.

Lori looked uncertainly at Maggie and sighed. "I need to ask you something. I don't want you to be offended." Lily looked at the two women and nodded. Lori bit her lip and Lily saw Lori had been crying. "I've asked Maggie if she could go on a run to the closest town and pick me up a pregnancy test."

Lily stared stupidly at the two women. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked a little more harshly than she'd intended.

Lori began to fidget. "I think….I think I may be pregnant from Shane." She blushed and wiped at her face.

Lily nodded, still unsure why Lori was telling her this. "Well, that's awful but maybe not. You can hope for the best right?" And Lily started to turn to continue brushing the horse.

"Lily," Maggie said softly. Lily turned to her. "I didn't know if maybe you needed a test too." Maggie turned as red as Lori was and coughed nervously.

Lily frowned at Maggie. Then she started to think about what Maggie was hinting at, and the color drained from her face and she sank to the ground, her legs suddenly giving out. Maggie and Lori rushed over to her and knelt down.

"Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry," Maggie whispered anxiously. "I don't know if you're using anything. I don't know how things are between you and Daryl. But I wanted to ask you to be sure, before I go get one for Lori."

Lily nodded, her mind trying to count back and fix dates in her head. "They have tests now?" she asked absentmindedly.

Lori nodded. "Yeah, some new thing they just started selling in the pharmacies. I heard it takes two hours but it's just as accurate as the doctor's tests."

Lily looked up at Lori. "What's the signs? Why do you think you need a test?"

Lori flushed an even deeper red, if that were possible. "I haven't ever been on any pills or anything. Rick had a vasectomy after Carl was born. I had a tough pregnancy and really difficult delivery. My doctor said we shouldn't try to have any more kids." She shrugged. "I never thought anything about it with…..with Shane," her voice dropped to barely a whisper.

Lily nodded in thought. "Well, do you feel different? What makes you think you might be.." and Lily stopped at saying the word out loud.

Lori began to cry again. "I've been nauseated in the mornings, and threw up this morning. And I'm just so damn tired."

Again Lily nodded, thinking this over. Shane had been with her at least a week or so before he'd been with Lori. But she wasn't tired or sick. Still, best be on the safe side and find out.

"Okay," Lily said finally. "Get me a test too. Jack got himself fixed not long after we got married." Lori and Maggie looked surprised at this. "Yeah, me and Jack were married when I was sixteen. And he took care of things not long after. Said he didn't want to be responsible for anyone else-that I was more than enough trouble to look after." Lily smirked at the memory.

Maggie and Lori stood up and helped Lily up as well. "Right then, Glen and I were going to run into town anyway to pick up some stuff from the pharmacy and just see what all there is that we might need. We'll go here in a bit."

Lily nodded and her interest in brushing the horse was forgotten. She followed the two women back to the larger barn and went in and right up to she and Daryl's room. Daryl and Merle were out hunting and wouldn't be back until the evening. Maybe even not until tomorrow morning, depending on what they found. She began to pace, thinking rapidly, then bolted down the stairs and out the door toward where Maggie stood with Glen.

"Hey," she called breathlessly as she jogged up to them. "Do me a favor, don't tell anyone what you're getting okay?" She gave a serious look to both Glen and Maggie and they nodded back. "I mean it. I don't want anyone to know," she snapped and turned and headed back to the barn.

Glen looked at Maggie in confusion. "What was that all about?"

Maggie shushed him. "I'll tell you on the drive," she promised. Andrea and Amy came jogging up.

"Hey can we go? Might be better four of us instead of two," Andrea said cheerfully. "Besides Merle asked me to get him some things if we ever went into a town," she finished, blushing.

Maggie and Glen smirked at Andrea. Merle and Andrea were not a pair anyone would have ever pictured together, but they were thick as thieves since they'd gotten to the farm. Maggie privately wondered if she shouldn't get more than two tests-she wouldn't be surprised if Andrea came up pregnant. Maybe she should get a large supply of rubbers as well and she mentally added that to her list of things to look for.

"Sure, that'd be great," Glen said happily, then winced when he caught Maggie's glare. Too late now, Andrea and Amy were already climbing into the back of the truck. Maggie sighed and directed Glen to ride shotgun while she drove and they set off.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Lily paced anxiously in the bedroom. What in the hell was she going to do if she was pregnant? By Shane? She just couldn't have a baby! Not the way things were right now in the world. And she sure didn't want a baby by that bastard Shane. She sat down and hung her head between her knees and tried to calm her breathing down, but it was a wasted effort. She was up again, pacing, trying to calm down. She thought about heading down and out to the pasture to ride, riding always calmed her down. Then she heard shouting from the front of the house.

Carol was hanging some laundry on the line they'd strung up between trees when she heard Ed call her name. She glanced anxiously around. Merle and Daryl were off hunting. Rick and the other men had gone off to check the perimeters. Herschel and Anna were attending one of their milk cows who was due to give birth any day now. Carol hadn't truly been alone with Ed since that night Lily had interrupted him from hitting her. She hesitated, then flinched when she heard Ed's voice again. He sounded more irritable, his voice had that edge to it she'd learned to dread.

Carol turned and headed reluctantly toward the barn they were all living in. She saw Ed standing in the doorway, and oh god if it didn't look like he had a bottle of something in his hand. He'd been drinking. He was always worse when he drank.

She dragged her feet more and more as she got closer to the barn. Ed was glaring at her-he wasn't completely drunk, but by the looks of him he'd had enough to turn into the bully she hadn't seen in the past couple of weeks. She sighed and looked around for anyone that might help her deal with him.

"Ain't nobody here to save your lazy ass," Ed growled as Carol hesitated a few yards from him.

Carol tried to smile soothingly, but failed. "What is it Ed?" she asked with her sweetest voice.

"You know what's wrong you bitch," he growled back at her.

Carol stopped where she was, trying to think of something that would distract him. She looked anxiously toward the gardens, hoping Sophia would stay with the other children and not see this.

Ed lunged at her and she yelped in surprise. "Dammit, when I tell you to come here I mean now!" Ed growled, his voice rising in volume. Carol tried to twist away from Ed, but his grip on her arm only increased to a painful hold. Ed laughed at the look of fear on Carol's face, and the alcohol wafting in her direction made her nauseated.

Sophia, Carl and Beth along with the Martinez children came around the corner of the yard from the garden and stopped still when they saw Carol and Ed.

"Go on you damn kids! This is between Sophia's mom and me!" Ed yelled, as he started to drag Carol back toward the house.

"My dad told you to leave her alone!" Carl shouted angrily. Sophia started to cry and Beth and the Martinez kids stood staring in shock at the scene before them.

"Yeah well yer dad ain't here so shut up and git!" Ed shouted again and dragged Carol closer to the door. Carol tried again to pull away, but Ed backhanded her and shook her roughly. Carol started to scream and Ed hit her again and this time she fell silent. Carl ran off toward where he'd last seen his dad walking with some of the other men, and Beth ran off toward the barn where she'd seen her daddy and mama with their cow. The Martinez kids ran toward the house where they knew their mother and Jacqui were baking. Sophia stood rooted to where she stood, sobbing. She knew better than to get near her father when he was like this, but she felt guilty that she was doing nothing to help her mother.

Lily ran down the stairs in time to see Ed strike and shake Carol through the open door. She frowned and grabbed for her knife. Dammit, she'd left it upstairs. She ran over toward the kitchen area and grabbed a carving knife from the knives in the rack and headed back toward the door.

Ed dragged a half conscious Carol into the front room and turned to see Lily glaring at him holding the knife. "Well, well. Look who's here," he sneered. "Ya think ya can stop me? I ain't tied to no chair like Shane was." And Ed dropped Carol onto the floor and advanced angrily toward Lily.

"Doesn't matter if you're tied to a chair or not, you asshole," Lily spat angrily, stepping backwards to stay out of Ed's reach.

Ed stopped and laughed. "Oh yeah? Well let's see how good you are with that knife with a moving target you little bitch!" he yelled as he lunged toward her.

Without thinking, Lily hurled the knife at Ed's chest and it struck him solidly just above his heart, in the meat of his upper chest. He stopped and gazed stupidly at the knife sticking out of his chest.

"You fucking bitch!" he roared and took another step toward her. Lily backed toward where more knives lay and scrabbled to reach for one while keeping an eye on Ed. A noise from the doorway made both turn and they saw Rick standing there with his gun drawn.

"Ed, you need to step away from there. Just back away from Lily and step on out here," Rick said in a voice Lily had only heard one time before, when he'd killed Shane.

"Fuck you. You can't tell me what to do," Ed gasped as he tried to remove the knife from his chest.

Rick nodded back at Ed. "Oh but I can. And I'm telling you now to step away from Lily, or I will shoot you. And I will be aiming to kill you." Ed glared at Rick and turned back to Lily, still trying to wrench the knife from his chest.

"You can go to hell," Ed spat out and Rick raised his gun and shot Ed right through the head. Blood splurted everywhere, and Lily screamed as some of it hit her. Ed dropped heavily to the ground and blood immediately began pooling around his head.

By this time the other men had caught up with Rick and they moved forward to pick Ed up and carry him outside. Herschel and Anna came forward and helped Carol to her feet and they led her toward the house where Herschel could check her for injuries. Rick quickly stepped over to Lily and pulled her into his arms.

"Damn Lily. He didn't hurt you, did he?" he whispered into her hair as he held her tightly to try to calm her. She was trembling violently and sounded like she was about to hyperventilate. Rick led her around the pool of blood and took her outside and toward the chairs they had left around the fire pit. He gently pushed her into a chair and looked up to see Lori standing on the porch along with Jacqui and Marilyn. Carl and Beth were standing with Sophia and the Martinez kids on the porch as well.

"He didn't hurt her, did he?" Lori asked anxiously. Rick shook his head. Lori went back into the house and came out with a damp hand towel. She crossed the yard to where Lily sat and handed the towel to Rick. He began to gently wipe the splatters of blood from Lily's face and arms as she gazed around her dazedly. Rick looked up to see Merle and Daryl running toward the group.

"We heard a shot, were on our way back anyway," Merle gasped. Daryl ran to where Lily sat and knelt down by her.

"What the fuck happened?" he asked anxiously, seeing the blood on the towel and on her clothes.

Rick looked at Merle and Daryl and sighed. "Ed attacked Carol, and when Lily tried to stop him he went after her as well." Daryl and Merle immediately started making a noise like growling.

"Where is the son of a bitch?" Merle yelled, while Daryl ran his hands over Lily's face and arms to reassure himself she wasn't hurt.

"I shot him. He's dead." Rick said quietly.

"And ya ain't hurt?" Daryl rasped, frowning at Lily. She shook her head silently and hiccupped as she started to cry.

"That's it, c'mon," Daryl snapped and before anyone could say anything he swept Lily up in his arms and stomped off toward the barn.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Daryl carried Lily to their bed, slamming the door shut behind him with his foot. He laid her down gently and lay down beside her on his side. She curled on her side away from him and he drew her closer, leaving his arm draped around her tightly.

"You're the bravest girl I know," he whispered into her hair. She was still trembling and he continued to whisper softly in her ear and stroke her arm soothingly. He cursed himself silently for not having taken care of Ed before they had all left the CDC. He and Merle had been afraid Ed would start up on Carol again once he got a little comfortable here at the farm. He brushed his lips softly against her cheek and squeezed her hand. She sighed and her sobbing started to wind down.

Daryl lay with Lily until he knew she had calmed a bit. "Be right back," he whispered as he got up carefully and made his way out and down to the main living room. He noticed Merle and Rick finishing up cleaning what he gathered was Ed's blood in the kitchen area. Merle looked up and saw Daryl.

"Sissy okay?" Merle asked anxiously. Daryl nodded. Ordinarily Merle calling Lily Sissy irritated the hell out of him, but he didn't care today. He was just glad Lily was alive and in one piece.

"Where is everyone else?" Daryl asked, looking around curiously.

"Glen and Maggie and Andrea and Amy went into town to scavenge for some supplies," Rick answered quietly. Daryl noticed that Rick's face was rather pale and he had shadows under his eyes. He guessed Rick wasn't sleeping all that well, what with the lingering tension between he and Lori and now the responsibility he'd assumed for keeping them all safe. He didn't envy Rick in the least.

Merle perked up at the mention that someone had gone to town. "Sweetcheeks gone into town huh? Sure hope she remembered the list we made the other night," and Merle snickered. Rick and Daryl looked questioningly at Merle and Merle shrugged. "Thought it might be nice to have somethin' ta drink besides tea and milk," he griped. "And we're low on cigarettes," he continued, raising a brow at Daryl.

Rick and Daryl nodded and sighed, glad to have something to think about besides Ed. "A drink sounds good right about now," Rick snapped as he headed out the door. Merle followed him to dispose of the articles they'd used to clean the kitchen up. Daryl saw from the doorway a truck pull up and Glen, Maggie, Andrea and Amy pile out. Merle trotted over to Andrea and they began talking excitedly. Daryl saw Lori head over toward Maggie and take a bag out of Maggie's hands and head back toward the barn where he stood. Daryl continued to watch as Merle took something out of Andrea's hands and laughed. Merle waved toward Daryl. "Look what sweetcheeks here has brought us baby brother!" And he waved something at Daryl.

Squinting Daryl realized Merle was waving packs of condoms around. He sighed and shook his head in disgust and stepped aside as Lori hurried past him and headed upstairs. He frowned. Why was Lori going upstairs? She and Rick slept downstairs. He watched silently as he saw Lori slip into his room.

Daryl waited until he saw Lori leave his and Lily's room, then went up the stairs quietly. Opening the door softly, Daryl peeked in to see Lily lying on the bed reading something, a box sitting on the bedside table. She looked up and flushed, trying to fold the paper back up and stuff it where he couldn't see it. Daryl crossed the room and sat down beside her, taking the paper from her hands and scanning it quickly. Lily watched his face as he read the paper.

Daryl looked up at her and his eyes narrowed speculatively. "What is this?"

Lily blushed and refused to meet his gaze. "Pregnancy test," she whispered.

"Do ya think ya are?" Daryl asked quietly. Lily turned red in anger and embarrassment, but remained silent. "Ya weren't using anything with Jack?" he continued.

Lily shook her head. "No, he got himself fixed right after we were married. Said he didn't want any kids."

Daryl nodded, thinking. "Ya missed yet?" His face flushed, and he had an embarrassed but determined look on his face.

Lily sat up and looked around the room to avoid looking directly at him. Finally she shrugged. "Never been regular. From all the riding and stuff. Didn't think anything of it til Lori said something." Daryl noted her eyes were filling up again with tears and she had a scared expression on her face. "I won't have that asshole's baby," she gritted out, clenching her fists in her lap.

Daryl nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. "How d'ya take the test?" he whispered, looking speculatively at the box.

Lily wiped her face tiredly. "Says I gotta pee in some cup, and mix it with something, and then wait two hours." She fidgeted and Daryl lay a hand on her clenched fists.

"Ya feel sick? Thrownin' up any?" Lily glanced up at him curiously and he shrugged. "Merle. Past gals he went with. Had to hear the questions a few times." Lily raised her brows at this. "If any of 'em were, he never told me," Daryl continued. Lily nodded, absorbing this. When she raised her eyes to his, he shook his head quietly. "No, I never had any close calls. Truth is I ain't been with that many girls." At Lily's look of surprise, he shrugged in irritation. "Ain't much of one for anything steady, long-term. And was careful whenever I was with any gal." Lily nodded again at this. That explained his reluctance to advance much further than the kissing they'd done. To her surprise, she realized he was even less experienced than she was-she'd been with Jack since she was sixteen, but he was the only man she'd ever been with. Although Daryl had been with more girls he apparently hadn't been with any very often.

"So," Daryl continued quietly, his thumb now rubbing circles on her palm. "Ya ain't got any signs yet." Lily nodded again. "Would you want a baby if it wasn't Shane's?" he whispered.

Lily started to cry harder. "I don't know," she wailed softly. "I never thought about it. I'd be afraid to have a baby the way things are now." She sighed. "I know I don't want a baby if it's his."

Daryl stood up and picked the box and instructions up and crossed to the dresser. Opening a drawer, he placed them inside and shut the drawer. "Do ya trust me?" he asked her quietly, still standing by the dresser.

Lily nodded, confused. "Yes. Why?"

"Don't take that test. Not for a while." He stood silent, gazing quietly at her. "We can….we can be together tonight. Wait to take the test. And if yer pregnant, we can say it's mine. Won't nobody be able ta say different." Lily's mouth fell open in surprise.

"But, what if I am? The baby would be born too soon to say it's yours," she blurted out.

Daryl shook his head. "No. You slept with me when Merle and Jack were out and we were alone." Lily saw the stubborn look on his face and knew he had made up his mind. She wouldn't be able to argue with him about this. And truthfully she felt relieved that he would do this for her. Few men would agree to say a child was theirs if they had doubts about it, much less saying it when it would mean ensuring a child that may not be yours was added to the list of people you had to protect.

Lily wiped her face and cleared her throat. "You know you don't have to do this," she began but Daryl crossed the room and sat beside her.

He gripped her hands tightly and gazed at her quietly. Lily saw the kindness and caring in his eyes, no sign of pity or reluctance. "Let me do this Lily," Daryl whispered and she realized he was asking her permission, not demanding she do as he said. She nodded silently, too overwhelmed to attempt to speak. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on her mouth. "Go clean up and we'll go down ta dinner," he said and loosened his grip on her hands. He got up and headed out the door to the stairs. Lily watched him descend the stairs and sniffed. Then she gathered some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom to clean up.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Lily and Daryl ate dinner with the rest of their group and the Greenes. Herschel had given Carol a sedative and bandaged her ribs and tended to the bruises and cuts on her face. She lay asleep in their guest bedroom. They had also volunteered to have Sophia sleep with Beth in her room so she'd be near her mother. Tdog and Martinez had buried Ed up in the woods away from where anyone would see the grave.

Lily glanced anxiously around the group relaxing and talking, sitting around the barn's large living area after dinner. She caught Lori gazing at her with concern. Her stomach was rolling and her palms were slick with sweat. She tried to scold herself into calming down. It wasn't like Daryl would be her first-she'd been with Jack six years for heaven's sake. But Jack was the only man she'd ever been with and she'd been comfortable with him, they'd gotten used to each other-she'd done her growing from a girl to a woman with him. Daryl was unknown-she barely knew him and sure didn't know what he liked or didn't like in anything, much less in bed. What if she disappointed him? What if she disgusted him?

She glanced to the side to see to her surprise that Daryl seemed just as anxious as she. He was fidgeting in his chair, biting and tearing away at his thumb. His leg was bouncing up and down rapidly. He finally turned to look at her and nodded slightly. She rose and trying to appear nonchalant headed toward the stairs. Merle glanced over at Daryl and raised his eyebrows. Daryl avoided Merle's gaze and stood up to go outside to smoke. He was jumpy and anxious as he lit up and took a deep drag off his cigarette. He jumped when Merle appeared beside him, lighting up his own cigarette.

"S'goin' on baby brother?" Merle whispered quietly, looking out over the yard.

Daryl shrugged, trying unsuccessfully to act like he didn't understand what Merle was asking.

"Andrea said Maggie brought back pregnancy tests for Lori and Sissy," Merle continued. Daryl swore softly and started to pace in anger. Merle watched him quietly. "I'm guessing there's something else goin' on here," he hissed.

Daryl stopped and glared at Merle. "Cain't nobody keep their fuckin' mouths shut around here," he spat out.

Merle watched Daryl and hummed as he waited for Daryl to blurt out what was bothering him. Daryl might be seen as close mouthed to other folks, but Merle knew that Daryl could never keep a secret from him. Sooner or later Daryl would blurt out whatever was bothering him and although he acted like he didn't care what Merle thought Merle had long noted that Daryl usually took his advice.

"Ya bed her now, nobody can say it ain't yours. If that's what yer worried 'bout," Merle said quietly, watching Daryl. From Daryl's reaction, he knew he had guessed correctly. The possibility that Lily may have gotten pregnant from Shane had already occurred to Merle. And he'd picked up on little signs that told him Lori was indeed pregnant. Merle shook his head. That bastard Shane had fucked things up for years to come with Lori and Rick. He'd be damned if that would happen with Lily and Daryl. "Get on up there and do what ya gotta do, baby brother. If she is pregnant, nobody will be the wiser who the daddy is. And if she ain't, well at least you'll have finally gotten ta home base with her," and he smirked. Daryl shot Merle a glare and stomped off in the direction of the door. Merle grabbed his arm and held him close. "Take yer time and be sweet with her, brother. She's a good girl, not like the bar whores we're used to," and he let go when Daryl yanked his arm away.

"Think I don't know that?" Daryl spat at Merle angrily.

"Just makin' sure," Merle said quietly. Daryl straightened up and nodded tersely, then headed up the stairs toward the bathroom-best clean up some, didn't want her being disgusted by his grimy dirty self.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Lily lay in the bed, the sheet pulled up to her neck, her eyes wide as Daryl walked in quietly. He had cleaned up and wore fresh boxers and a tshirt. He glanced nervously toward the bed, seeing Lily had lit the candle on the bedside table. He locked the door and crossing quietly to the bed, he blew out the candle. There was some light from the moon outside, but most of the room was in shadow. Maybe she wouldn't be able to tell just how nervous he was in the dark.

He slid beneath the sheet and lay on his back quietly, trying to work up the nerve to get things going. He jumped when he felt Lily's cold hand on his chest. Which caused her to jump and squeak in surprise. Daryl sighed in exasperation and willed himself to lie still to allow Lily to relax a bit.

"I won't do anything ya don't want to," he whispered. "I'll stop whenever ya say," he continued. Lily made a sound, acknowledging she'd heard him.

He turned onto his side, and placed a hand tentatively on her hip. She lay on her side, facing him. He moved to kiss her and she met him, surprising him with the passion in her kiss. She rolled onto her back and he leaned over her, tangling his hands in her hair as they kissed. Lily could feel Daryl trembling, whether from desire or nerves or both she didn't know. But knowing he was as anxious as she was relieved some of her anxiety.

Daryl continued to kiss her, moving to her neck and breathing in her scent hungrily. Her skin was warm to his touch and it seemed to him wherever he touched her she grew warmer. Lily pulled at the waist of his boxers and he moved so he could remove them and tossed them to the floor. He moved slowly to where he knelt between her legs, leaning over her. He lowered his face to her neck again and nipped lightly at her. She giggled and squirmed. He pulled her closer to him and whispered against her neck.

"God you feel so good," he murmured. Lily moaned and arched up against him. He didn't have to touch her, just the sound of his voice was enough to get her pulse racing. And when he touched her and talked to her, she felt like she was going to come unglued. She had never felt like this with Jack-all her nerves jumping and when Daryl touched her it felt like little electrical shocks surged through her, like static electricity.

Daryl's mouth moved down her neck to her breasts and Lily squirmed and moaned and with each moan, Daryl's confidence increased a bit. He ran his hand lightly down her stomach and dipped his fingers between her legs as she sighed and murmured his name. He had no experience in any prolonged foreplay and was uncertain how to proceed.

"In me, I want you in me," Lily whispered, a slight impatient whine to her voice. Daryl nodded and carefully and slowly slid as deeply into her as he could. Lily gasped again at the feel of him inside of her.

"Does that feel good?" Daryl whispered against her neck. Lily nodded wordlessly. He began to move, awkwardly at first until Lily picked up his rhythm and they began to move together.

He thrust slowly, watching her reactions and kissing her often on her mouth and neck, his hands on either side of her to brace his weight. Her arms were flung over her head, her hands grasping the rails on the headboard with a white knuckle grip. Lily's eyes were closed and her face and chest were flushed, sweat dripped from him onto her skin and he lowered his face and licked the drops off her.

He felt her legs tighten around him and her moans grew louder. He covered her mouth with his own and heard as if from far off his own voice joining her in a long moan. He felt himself pour into her, it felt as if he were emptying everything within him into her. He had never come that much or for that long. At least it seemed as if it went on for a long time.

At last he withdrew from her and lay beside her on his back, panting from the exertion. Lily rolled to her side and draped her arm across his chest and threw a leg across his. "Was that okay?" he whispered huskily to her.

"Yes, you were better than okay," she answered, running her hand lightly over his chest. She had noted that he'd never taken his shirt off, and hoped that sometime soon he'd trust her enough to do so. She wanted to feel their bare skin against each other.

Daryl gazed at her, a small smile playing on his lips. "Practice makes perfect," he whispered to her. Lily smiled back at him and nodded in agreement. "Reckon we can practice at this some every day?" he asked shyly, his fingers running through her curls.

Lily placed her hand on his cheek and stroked his skin. "We can. I'd like that," she whispered softly.

Daryl sighed happily and pulled her closer to him. His fingers entwined with hers he closed his eyes. Lily watched him silently, and when she thought he'd fallen asleep she whispered softly, "I love you." Daryl sighed again and his hand tightened momentarily on hers and then he stilled. Lily smiled and closed her eyes.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Downstairs they noticed Rick looking grim and Lori was absent from the room. Daryl squeezed Lily's hand and he headed out with Merle to go hunting again. Lily walked over to the pasture to check on the horses. While watering and feeding, Lily noticed Maggie walking over to her.

"Lori took the test and she's pregnant," Maggie burst out without any warning. Lily shook her head, feeling sorry for Rick and Carl but completely disgusted with Lori. "Did you take your test?" Maggie continued. Lily could see the concern on Maggie's face.

"No. Daryl and I decided to wait a bit. He and I were together before Shane arrested me ….and all that…." Lily mumbled.

"Don't you want to know if you're pregnant?" Maggie persisted.

"No. Not right now. I've never been regular anyway, so if I've skipped that's not unusual. I'm not feeling sick or anything, so I'm going to wait a bit longer," Lily responded, hoping this would be the end of the issue for now.

"What will Daryl do if you are pregnant?" Maggie just wouldn't leave it alone.

"He says he'll claim it. He'll help raise it. But I'm hoping we don't have to worry about any of that," Lily mumbled.

Maggie nodded. "Well okay. But I'm here if you need to talk or anything. Lori's hysterical, and Rick's furious. It's an awful situation. I feel really bad for Carl. Momma and Daddy are keeping him and Sophia and Bethy busy so Rick and Lori can calm down some." Lily nodded and Maggie went off toward the barn and the cows.

The day passed slowly. Everyone was still anxious from the previous day with Ed's antics and subsequent murder. Carol stayed in the Greene's guest room resting. Lori was also noticeably absent both inside and out. Rick made himself scarce as well, walking the perimeter and taking an extra watch. The day was hot, no relief from any breeze. After brushing the horses and feeding and watering them Lily wandered down to the lake and sat down on the dock to stick her feet into the cool water. After a while, she felt someone walking on the dock behind her. Turning, she was surprised to see Rick approaching her.

"Hey," she called out.

"Hi," he said quietly. He crouched down beside her and stared moodily out at the water. Lily stayed silent, not wanting to upset Rick any more than he already was.

Rick glanced over at Lily then back at the water. "Mind if I ask you somethin'?" Rick said quietly.

Lily kept her eyes on the water. "Go ahead," she whispered. She had a feeling this was going to have something to do with Shane and she just didn't want to go into all that again.

Rick nodded slightly and cleared his throat. "Are you pregnant too?"

Lily's face flushed and she felt like screaming. She just wanted to forget about Shane and everything else, but apparently as long as Lori was pregnant now Shane was going to be discussed over and over. She sighed. "Don't know. Don't think so. Daryl and me were together before that stuff with Shane. So even if I am, there's just as much chance of the baby being Daryl's as …" and here she stopped, refusing to say his name out loud. Much less in the same sentence as saying she might be pregnant.

Rick nodded again. "No chance this baby is mine. None," and Rick sighed sadly. "I don't know what to do," he whispered.

Lily turned to look at him. She felt bad for him-he seemed to be such a genuinely nice guy. He obviously loved his family-she could tell he still loved Lori. She thought for a minute while she gazed at him. Rick hung his head and she could hear him taking deep breaths as if to calm himself.

Lily put her hand on his arm. "Do you love Lori?"

Rick glanced up at her, a tortured and confused look on his face. "Yeah. Yeah I do. She and Carl are my whole world. I just…..I can't wrap my head around her running off with Shane. Taking his word for it that I was dead. Why would she do that?"

Lily shook her head. "I can't answer that for you Rick. But if you love her, then you need to talk to her. Do you think you can accept the baby when it comes?"

Rick laid his hand on hers and smiled sadly. "Yeah. The baby is part Lori. I can do that."

Lily nodded and thought some more. "Well, then you need to look at it like he tricked the both of you. Made you think he was your friend. And made Lori think he was just trying to protect her. He hurt both of you. But if you turn your back on Lori now, then in the end he still took your family away even though he's dead now."

Rick nodded and smiled a sad smile. "You're a smart girl. Daryl's lucky to have you with him. Thanks for listening to me." And Rick stood and walked back toward the barn.

Carol watched from her bedroom window. She wondered what was going on between Lily and Rick. She'd have to keep an eye on those two. And if she found anything out, she'd let Daryl know. He deserved better than some murdering slut.

AN: I'm going to stop here as an intermission of sorts. I'll be starting a new job July 6th, and it's going to entail a pretty intensive training period through Sept 4th. So, I'm going to put a pause on my various stories until I get comfortable in my new venture and can again give my full attention to my writing. I am one of those folks that when starting a new job, moving to a new place, anything different although I welcome change I also freak the hell out. I don't feel during this period of anticipated freaking out my writing will be at it's best thus the pause. Hopefully I feel comfy soon and the pause isn't all that long.


	35. Chapter 35

May 9, 2016

Hello readers! I just wanted to first apologize for having been so tardy in posting new chapters to my stories the last couple of weeks. I do have an explanation though…

Another writer on this site and on Archive Of Our Own-she goes by both Mistyeye and bubblesbromleigh-and I are collaborating on a novel. This is not a fanfiction novel, but is in fact a fiction novel taking place in England during WWII. The inspiration for the novel was Norman Reedus-we are both fans of his beyond TWD and began bouncing ideas off each other as to what type of role would let him really show off his acting chops.

This novel is the result of our brainstorming and collaboration. We have a page on FB-MistyKat Productions, have started a GoFundMe page for startup and research expenses and hope to have our novel published as an ebook by December of this year at the latest.

I hope you can visit our FB page and like and share it with your friends. I'll be posting more regularly hopefully to my works already in progress here on Fanfiction and as always I am grateful for your reviews, suggestions and encouragement and your patience while waiting for updates.

Fingers crossed!


End file.
